Kartika wants caning done in public
A model who will be caned six time next week for drinking beer has appealed for her punishment to be carried out in public to deter other Muslims.
A model who will be caned six time next week for drinking beer has appealed for her punishment to be carried out in public to deter other Muslims.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was also fined RM5,000 ringgit last month after she pleaded guilty to drinking alcohol at a hotel nightclub in Pahang last year.
She will be the first woman to be caned under Islamic law, with the punishment set to be meted out in a female prison.
But the mother of two, who lives in neighbouring Singapore, said yesterday that she wanted to be caned publicly.
"It will be a more effective way to educate Muslims not to drink if I am caned in public. I want to send this message to other Muslims and I am sincere," Kartika told AFP.
"I am willing to be caned publicly or in front of a mosque, but the prosecutor has told my dad today that this cannot be done. I also requested for journalists to witness the caning in prison but it is not allowed."
Husband, parents back public caning
Kartika, who has lived in Singapore for 15 years after marrying a citizen of the city-state, said she had the support of her parents and husband to be publicly punished.
She denies using her sentencing as a way to boost her part-time modelling career.
"I am not thinking about popularity or modelling, I am only thinking about my religion and want to tell Muslims to stay away from alcohol," she said.
Malaysia, which has large Chinese and Indian minorities, has a dual-tracked legal system and syariah courts can try Muslims for religious offences.
- AFP
