Malaysian govt okays model's caning

 The Malaysian government has “cleared” the token caning of a Muslim women model if the Shariah court decides to enforce the sentence on her for drinking beer in public, forbidden by Islam.

Malaysia’s Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein gave the nod to the prisons department to cane 32-year-old Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno.

Kartika was fined Rs 60,000 rupees and ordered to be whipped six times for drinking beer in a hotel in Cherating last year. Her sentence has been deferred until after Ramzan.

Hishammuddin said the prison department officials had demonstrated how the part-time model and mother of two would be caned. He said the woman office tapped the back of a chair with the cane while demonstrating to him. “There was little force involved and it was not going to inflict pain, not even like the caning carried out in schools in those days.

“I am now satisfied that the caning can be carried out by the department if the court decides to proceed and enforce the sentence,” he told a local daily here.