'Beer-Guzzling' Malaysian Model Mum Pardoned, Spared the Cane

The Singaporean Muslim woman who was to be caned six times in Kuala Lumpur for drinking beer in a bar, has been spared by religious authorities.

"The warrant cannot be executed," Sharafuddin Zainal Ariffin, the head of enforcement for the state of Pahang's Islamic Affairs Department.

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Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, would have been the first woman to be caned in Malaysia.

According to the Courier Mail, the Muslim model said she would now plan a pilgrimage to Mecca, and seeking solace in prayer.

She was earlier sentenced to receive six strokes of the cane after pleading guilty to drinking alcohol at a hotel nightclub last year.

Kartika cried when the verdict was handed down last month but in an interview at her home in a small Malay village, she was composed about her fate.

"Sometimes I feel sad and stressed as I have tarnished my family's name. But now after spending time reading the Koran, I feel calm and am not afraid of being caned," she said.

The part-time model and mother of two, who lives in neighbouring Singapore, had called for her punishment to be carried out in public.

Source-ANI
TAN