Singaporean actor Aliff Aziz and Malaysian actress Ruhainies, whom Malaysian religious authorities recently detained on suspicion of khalwat or close proximity have spoken out about the incident.
Apparently, Aliff and Ruhainies, who claim to be close friends, had plans to have dinner with the latter’s siblings, who were late to meet.
The two actors then decided to go up to the apartment first to wait for them, before the religious police arrived.
Previously, the Singaporean actor had maintained that the claims of khalwat were an exaggeration not long after the detention.
On Thursday (14 March), Ruhainies released a statement on Instagram with her account of what happened on the day of the arrest, which Aliff also re-posted on his Instagram page.
She said that after her shoot wrapped for the day, she was on her way home with her personal assistant and had plans to have dinner with her siblings as they would be staying over at her apartment that night.
Upon learning that Aliff’s shoot has also ended, she invited him to join as they have been close family friends for 10 years. Aliff accepted the invitation as he had not seen her siblings in a long time.
Ruhainies’ sister, actress Risteena Munim, then told her that she had found herself in a traffic jam. Thus, Ruhainies decided to head home first with Aliff, so that she could put down her belongings and wait for her siblings there.
As the pair were chatting in her apartment, Ruhainies heard a knock at the door, followed by a man’s voice.
She said she hesitated to open the door due to safety concerns.
“I called my sister to come as soon as possible to check who was at the door. When she got here, she confirmed that it was JAWI (Islamic religious police) and the police.”
Per Ruhainies’ statement, Aliff’s wife, Bella Astillah — who has since filed for divorce — and the media were also present.
After some negotiations, Ruhainies and Aliff opened the door on the condition that only the authorities were there. The former added that nothing happened after that.
Although Ruhainies admitted her “mistake in terms of religion”, she denied that there was any romantic connection between her and Aliff.
“Aliff and I are just normal friends who are working together in a drama series.”
She also apologised for letting the matter drag on without explanation, acknowledging that it has caused some to “manipulate various untrue and inaccurate facts”.
“I treasure my friendship with Bella and hope that she and Aliff won’t split up. I’m ready to talk to Bella whenever she’s ready.”
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Featured image adapted from @ruhainies7 on Instagram, @iamaliffaziz on Instagram & @bellaastillah on Instagram.
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