JOHOR BARU: A 34-year-old housewife was acquitted and discharged by the High Court here for possessing 1.2kg of cannabis.
However, her husband, 36, who pleaded guilty to the joint charge, was jailed 14 years and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the rotan.
Norhayati Omar had pleaded not guilty to an amended charge of jointly trafficking drugs and an alternative charge of joint drug possession with her husband Japidin Jaffarang.
Japidin, on the other hand, pleaded not guilty to the charge of jointly trafficking drugs, but pleaded guilty to the charge of drug possession.
The offence was committed in Pontian last year.
The charges were read in front of High Court judge Datuk Dr Sabirin Ja'afar.
Under the amended charge, the couple had trafficked 1,239.7g of cannabis at a rented house in Parit Betak, Kampung Tapok, Benut, Pontian about 12.30am on March 19, 2015.
The offence comes with the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
The alternative charge stated that Norhayati and Japidin were in possession of the same amount of drugs at the same location and time.
Under the alternative charge, which comes under Section 6 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, conviction carries a maximum 30-year jail sentence and 10 strokes of the rotan.
Sabirin ordered for Japidin to be sentenced to 14 years jail starting from his arrest date on March 19, 2015 and that he would receive 10 strokes of the rotan.
At that juncture, Deputy Public Prosecutor Rahimah Abd Majid said the prosecution would drop the charges against Norhayati.
Sabirin ordered for Norhayati to be acquitted and discharged.
Norhayati was represented by lawyer Jihad Syahida Nadia Zakaria, while Japidin was represented by lawyer Sukhaimi Masyud.