No woman available to carry out caning sentence in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: The caning sentence given by a Malaysian Shariah Islamic court to a Muslim woman who was sentenced for drinking beer is yet to be carried out due to absence of a female caner.

Pahang state Religious Affairs Committee chairman Mohamad Sahfri Ab Aziz said the country still did not have a female caner, national news agency Bernama said.

"In our 52 years of independence, we have not had a female caner," he told the state assembly to a query regarding delay in carrying out the sentence on 32-year-old Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno.

Mohamad Sahfri said a similar punishment had been carried out for the same offense on an Indonesian man, where he was caned six times.

He said Pahang was among the states that provided for the fine, prison and caning sentences for the offense of consuming alcohol.

Kartika was fined Rs 60,000 and sentenced to be whipped six times by the Kuantan Shariah High Court on July 20 after she confessed to violating Islamic laws by drinking beer in a hotel lobby in Cherating on July 11 last year.

He said that although the Islamic laws fixed between 40 to 80 canings for alcohol consumption, which is recognized as an 'hudud' offense, the Shariah Court had no jurisdiction to impose such sentences, Bernama added.

Source: Times of India.
Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/No-woman-available-to-carry-out-caning-sentence-in-Malaysia-/articleshow/5227418.cms.