A Muslim model, Malaysia's first woman to face caning for drinking beer in public, got a temporary reprieve as her punishment has been postponed till after the fasting month of Ramadan.
Kartika Shukarno, 32, a part time model and a permanent resident of Singapore, was sentenced to six strokes of the cane last month by a religious court for drinking beer as consumption of alcohol is forbidden under the country's Shariah law.
Malaysia's Pahang state's Religious Affairs committee chairman Mohd Sahfri Abdul Aziz said the decision to postpone convicted model Kartika Shukarno's caning was made after the attorney general's office advised that it should not be done during the Muslim fasting month.
The enforcement officers went to Kartika's house in Perak state this morning and took her into custody to transport her to a jail in the eastern state of Pahang, where the sentence was to be carried out.
"At the same time, they received a letter from the attorney-general's Chambers advising them to release Kartika temporarily as it was not advisable for her to undergo the punishment during the fasting month."
"The sentence remains. She will be caned after the fasting month. She has been released but only temporarily," he said.
