Beer-drinking Malaysian model wants public caning

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno will be the first woman in the multicultural country to be caned under Islamic law

KUALA LUMPUR — A model who will be caned six times in Malaysia next week for drinking beer appealed Thursday for her punishment to be carried out in public to deter other Muslims.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was also fined 5,000 ringgit (1,400 dollars) last month after she pleaded guilty to drinking alcohol at a hotel nightclub in the eastern state of Pahang last year.

She will be the first woman in the multicultural country to be caned under Islamic law, with the punishment set to be meted out in a female prison.

But the Malaysian mother of two, who lives in neighbouring Singapore, said Thursday 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."

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 sharia courts can try Muslims for religious offences.Link...