There are sharia law whippings, the looming threat of hanging and murderers, thieves and drug runners crammed into crowded cells.

Welcome to the sprawling Malaysian prison complex where an Australian grandmother may spend her final days - after she was sentenced to death by hangman's noose.

Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, 54, was handed the morbid sentence this week during a rare trip outside the walls of Kajang Women's Prison, at Selangor.

Welcome to the sprawling Malaysian prison complex where an Australian grandmother may spend her final days - after she was sentenced to death by hangman's noose

Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, 54, was handed the morbid sentence this week during a rare trip outside the walls of Kajang Women's Prison, at Selangor

Ms Exposto is one of 2000 female prisoners behind its pale walls and razor fencing

The female inmates are packed in about 'six or seven to a cell' and eat simple, nutritious meals 'including chicken and rice', a prison official told MailOnline

And a former prisoner, Emma L'Aiguille, has previously told media that life behind Kajang's bars involved 'being crammed (together) like sardines' and sleeping on mattresses just 5cm thick

Food is delivered several times a day on trays with a plastic mug of tea

Ms Exposto is one of 2,000 female prisoners behind its pale walls and razor fencing.

She is not even the most well known, with the two women accused of murdering North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother with a toxic nerve agent last February also calling Kajang home.

The female inmates are packed in about 'six or seven to a cell' and eat simple, nutritious meals 'including chicken and rice', a prison official told Daily Mail Australia.

And a former prisoner, Emma L'Aiguille, has previously told media that life behind Kajang's bars involved 'being crammed (together) like sardines' and sleeping on mattresses just 5cm thick.

'I was freaked out because I didn't know what was happening,' said Ms L'Aiguille, an Australian whose drug charges were dropped after four months in 2012. 'I was scared of never coming out again.'

Food is delivered several times a day on trays with a plastic mug of tea.

Prison staff often spend most of their day behind the jail walls, with many workers living in units elsewhere on the complex, which includes a large men's jail.

Prison staff demonstrate how a caning process is carried out at Kajang prison

Staff often spend most of their day behind the jail walls, with many workers living in units elsewhere on the complex, which includes a large men's jail

School groups made up of troubled children often visit to watch presentations about whippings and the gallows as a warning not to fall into a life of crime

Well behaved prisoners read books and play games to pass the time. Some low-risk female inmates even work at a beauty spa

Ms Exposto was arrested at Kuala Lumpur airport in December 2014 after authorities found 1.1kg of methamphetamine stitched into the lining of her bag

School groups made up of troubled children often visit to watch presentations about whippings and the gallows as a warning not to fall into a life of crime.

Well behaved prisoners read books and play games to pass the time. Some low-risk female inmates even work at a beauty spa for locals and prison staff located on the prison grounds.

Less well behaved prisoners face the threat of punishment. In 2010, local media reported that three Muslim women were caned at the jail after they were found guilty of engaging in illicit sex.

'The punishment is supposed to be symbolic and a deterrent rather than aimed at causing pain,' an AsiaOne news account explained.

There is little doubt life in prison has been an eye-opening experience for Ms Exposto.

Less well behaved prisoners face the threat of punishment. In 2010, local media reported that three Muslim women were caned at the jail after they were found guilty of engaging in illicit sex

There is little doubt life in prison has been an eye-opening experience for Ms Exposto

Aside from court appearances, her brushes with the outside world are rare

Aside from court appearances, her brushes with the outside world are rare.

Visitors include her Australia-based son, Hugo, a local Malaysian man known as Max and her legal team.

Ms Exposto's representatives have claimed in court she was just a 'naive and innocent mule' when she picked up a bag laced with crystal methamphetamine and brought it to Malaysia.

Ms Exposto believed she was in an internet relationship with a 'Captain David Smith' of the US Armed Forces, courts have heard.

She flew to Shanghai, China to meet him, but claimed 'Captain Smith' never showed up and a man instead asked her to take a backpack to Melbourne on his behalf.

Visitors include her Australia-based son, Hugo, a local Malaysian man known as Max and her legal team

Ms Exposto's representatives have claimed in court she was just a 'naive and innocent mule' when she picked up a bag laced with crystal methamphetamine and brought it to Malaysia

Ms Exposto believed she was in an internet relationship with a 'Captain David Smith' of the US Armed Forces, courts have heard

She was arrested at Kuala Lumpur airport in December 2014 after authorities found 1.1kg of methamphetamine stitched into the lining of her bag.

Ms Exposto had not been required to walk through immigration at the time and reportedly volunteered her bags to Customs for inspection.

It was the beginning of the nightmare that would bring her to Kajang.

But things could soon change for Ms Exposto behind jail walls.

A prison source claimed inmates on death row are generally moved to individual cells.

Ms Exposto will appeal her sentence, and no doubt hopes Kajang is not the last place she calls home.

Ms Exposto had not been required to walk through immigration at the time and reportedly volunteered her bags to Customs for inspection

A prison source claimed inmates on death row are generally moved to individual cells