Malaysian model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno speaking to journalists in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. Kartika who faced a caning for drinking beer in a case that grabbed headlines around the world has had her sentence reduced to community service, her father said. (AFP Photo)
Kuantan, Malaysia. A Malaysian Muslim model who escaped caning for drinking beer gave herself up to religious authorities on Friday to begin a three-week community service at a children’s home.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 33-year-old mother of two, was sentenced last year to six lashes and a fine by a religious court in the moderate Muslim-majority country in a case that triggered outrage among rights groups.
A teary-eyed Kartika gave herself up to the religious enforcement office in the central state of Pahang — where she was caught drinking in a hotel bar — after the state ruler decided to commute her sentence.
“I am ready to accept my punishment. I am strong,” Kartika told reporters. “I am going to miss my two children the most.”
Religious officials declined comment as they escorted Kartika to the children’s home. She will serve as a helper there until April 23, her father said.
Alcohol is widely available in Malaysia but is forbidden for Muslim Malays, who make up 60 percent of the population. They can be fined, caned, or jailed for up to three years but prosecutions are extremely rare.
Three other women were caned in February for having sex out of wedlock in the first such punishment under Islamic law in Malaysia. The cases have fuelled debate over rising “Islamisation” of the multi-ethnic nation.
The Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association however expressed its “deepest regret” over the reduced punishment for Kartika, saying the state ruler or sultan of Pahang should be defending Islamic laws or Shariah.
“Shariah caning differs from civil caning which causes injury and torture on the offender. Caning under sharia law is educational, just like a father educates his child,” secretary-general Abdul Halim Bahari said in a statement.
Malaysia has a dual-track legal system and Islamic courts can try Muslims for religious and moral offences.
Islamic scholars say the three women punished would have been fully clothed and that the cane was smaller and lighter than the heavy length of rattan used against rapists and murderers.
Agence France-Presse
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