Malaysia postpones woman’s caning

August 24th, 2009 - 4:33 pm ICT by IBNS  

Pahang (Malaysia), Aug 24 (IBNS) Authorities in Pahang Monday postponed the caning of Malaysian model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, until the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Thirty-two-year-old Shukarno is set to become the first woman to be caned in the southeast Asian country for drinking beer in public.

“The police picked her up from our house in the morning, but after sometime they sent her , saying that the top official asked them not to bring her to Kuala Lumpur,” said Kartika’s father, Shukarno Abdul Muttalib on Monday.

Authorities in Pahang said the delay would run until the month of fasting ends. Monday was the third day of Ramadan, reported CNN.

An Islamic, or sharia, court in Pahang had fined Kartika — a Muslim — $1,400 (5,000 Malaysian ringgit) and sentenced her to six strokes with a rattan cane for drinking at a hotel bar two years ago.

Kartika, a part-time model and mother of two, was visiting Malaysia from Singapore at the time.

She pleaded guilty, paid the fine, and wanted her caning to be carried out in public.

“I want to move on. This case has been hanging over me for a long time,” the model told CNN last week.

She said she lost her job as a nurse in Singapore and took up part-time modeling to support her husband in raising their two children. Her son has cerebral palsy; her daughter a heart condition.

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