than the Penal Code (Act 574), Malaysia has enacted
Domestic Violence Act 1994 (Act 521). The Act aims
to provide legal protection in situations of domestic
violence and matters incidental thereto. The wife may
initiate legal proceedings against her abusive
husband. The wife may also applied for an injunction
to restrain husband from assaulting, harassing and
molesting her. She may also claim for damages.
(Mohamed Habibullah Mahmood v Faridah bte
Dato’ Talib, 2005)Moreover, under Married Women
Act 1957, which is also apply both Muslims and non-
Muslims, section 4A and 9 states that a spouse can be
prosecuted from offences ranging from murder to
common assault. On the other hand, for non-Muslims,
according to Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce)
Act, 1976 s 54(1) (b) states that if the respondent has
behaved in such a way that the petitioner cannot
reasonably be expected to live with the respondent,
(for example molestation) the marriage has
irretrievably broken down.
To summarise, in Malaysia, it could be argued that
victim in cruelty cases may apply for divorce and
claim for damages. The wrongdoer may be sentence
to imprisonment for causing physical injury.
1.4 Results and Discussions
In worldview, the concept of cruelty has been slowly
transformed with the passage of time and the impact
of new ideas on to it based on a strictly rational
outlook of life by the development of modern life.
Cruelty will always be an uncertain part of the law of
divorce. Cruelty is a conduct that might make the
victim's life extremely uncomfortable and miserable.
For centuries cruelty was an acknowledged cause for
divorce, both physical torture and domestic battery or
even if mentally tormenting, the offending spouse
was widely considered unfair and unjust. (Ramsey,
2013)The problem is that the conduct which amounts
to cruelty has misunderstood profoundly. Statutes
that criminalise cruelty define it in terms of physical
hurt alone, and underestimate injuries inflicted
throughout the battering relationship and the context
of abuse. Moreover, the statutes have failed to
criminalise the true nature of cruelty that is a patterns
of power, control, and violence and have significant
impact on its victims. Though, it could be argued that
in cruelty, emotional, mental and psychological
agony and suffering can cause physical effects and
vice versa, physical pain and suffering can also cause
psychological and mental pain and sufferings.
(Tetlow, 2016)
Family law or personal laws, as they are more
commonly referred to, are particular reference to the
position of women in Pakistan.(Tetlow, 2016) The
problem is that it is built of the society that in
Pakistani family system, the men of the family (the
fathers, uncles and brothers) hold the right to make
marital decisions for their women. This is the reason
that more than 95 percent of all marriages in Pakistan
are arranged by male family members. (Khan,
2006) So as the case, contrary to legislative text and
despite clear injunctions and constitutional
guaranties, divorce is a matter of life and death for
Pakistani women. In Pakistan, a woman is considered
a burden and divorce is extremely shameful, which
results for many families refusing to aid or assist the
divorced woman. (Naz and Zia, 2008)
The finding and analysis of the statues on family
laws of both Pakistan and Malaysia suggested that
they have the same substance on cruelty, either on the
formation of cruelty clauses or of evidentiary
standards. To be proved cruelty, petitioners requires
strict burden of proof beyond any reasonable doubt as
required by their criminal justice systems. Some of
the cruelty clauses are intact with the respective penal
codes of both countries. The significance of
Malaysian Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories)
Act, 1984 is that through sections 127 and 128, both
of these provisions made cruelty is a punishable
offence. Moreover, Malaysia has an established
Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (Act 521) of
1994 who effectively deals with family violence
incidents more than two decades. Access to justice for
Malaysian women also have some advantages due to
its society’s shape where high education rate and
economic independent role makes Malaysian women
a visible and harassment is no more a significant issue
in this society.
On the other hand, in compare to Malaysian
women, the Pakistani sisters have suffered most due
to their passive role within families and society. They
are almost invisible in economic activities, having
lowest education rate in the world. In case of any
victimization in the hands of very people who
supposed to protect them from unnecessary abuse, the
whole situation makes their access to justice
impossible. Unfortunately, Pakistani women still lack
of any functional law on domestic violence until
today. Many efforts have been done so far to establish
any law on domestic violence, unfortunately all
efforts ended up with disappointments. In this
situation Pakistani women have very limited access to
justice and due to the prevailed tribal and feudal code
Pakistan is considered one of the worst country in the
world for women. (Shah, 2011)
The Pakistani woman is defined in terms of her
role as a mother and a wife and her worth is dependent