Shalwati Norshal arrives home after 14 months in prison

Shalwati Norshal, who was freed from the Hinseberg Prison in Frovi, Sweden after serving a 14-month jail sentence for hitting her children while living in that country, arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 1.41pm today.

Shalwati, 46, attired in a black suit outfit with a white headscarf, flew in on Emirates Flight EK408 which transited in Dubai and was accompanied by her sister Noor Azila Makhzan, 52.

She was greeted on arrival by her husband Azizul Raheem Awalludin, 38, and close family members at the KLIA Tourism Office.

On March 29, Azizul Raheem, a Tourism Malaysia officer in Stockholm and his wife were sentenced by a Swedish court to imprisonment for hitting their four children from September, 2010.

Azizul Raheem, was released on July 9 after a three-month jail sentence in Sweden.

Shalwati, a teacher on unpaid leave, was sentenced to 14 months' jail.

However, the sentences were reduced and both only needed to serve one-third of their jail terms.

Shalwati said she was looking forward to do her Aidiladha congregational prayers after not having been able to do so during the Aidilfitri celebration.

The Aidiladha celebration is this Sunday while Aidilfitri this year was celebrated on July 28 and 29.

"Aidiladha this time will be more meaningful after I was not able to celebrate Aidilfitri with my family, I will use the opportunity to make up for lost time with my family," Shalwati told reporters.

She also said she missed Malaysia so much that she felt like wanting to kneel down and kiss the ground to celebrate her freedom.

Asked what were her plans after this, she said she was excited about returning to teaching at Sekolah Seri Puteri in Cyberjaya soon.

"As for my children, I will wait for the school term to be over before transferring them to schools around Kuala Lumpur.

On her prison experience, she it brought her closer to Allah and dscibed it as "a holiday to strengthen her spirituality".

Meanwhile, Azizul Raheem said her coming home was very timely as Muslims would be celebrating Aidiladha.

"Thank God, Shalwati has come home, she is in the flesh before our eyes," he said.

The couple will be leaving for Kota Bharu at 6.35 p. today. Their children, Aishah, 14, Ammar, 13, Adam, 12, and Ariff, eight, will be waiting for them at the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, Kelantan.