UPDATE: Malaysia: URGENT appeal for intervention to stay sentence of caning
On July 20, Kartika had been ordered to be caned and fined RM5,000 for consuming alcohol at a hotel night club in Cherating.
She was arrested by a team from the state religious department at 1.20am on July 12, 2007.
Although Kartika paid the fine, she did not appeal against the whipping order.
The mother of two was charged under Section 136 of the Pahang Islamic and Malay Traditional Practices Enactment (Amendment) 1987.
Under this section, those found guilty of consuming alcohol can be fined up to RM5,000 or jailed for a maximum of three years, or both, and sentenced to six strokes of the rotan.
The sentence for consuming alcohol was made stiffer when the Islamic Religious Administration and Pahang Malay Tradition Enactment was amended in 1987.
The punishment is provided for under Section 125(4) of the Syariah Criminal Procedure Enactment 2002, which spelled out how the caning should be carried out.
In Islamic law, the cane should not be thicker than the little finger on the hand and the cane cannot be lifted so high that the upper arm is away from the armpit.
19 August 2009
Source: The Star/ NST
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