Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno has been ordered by the Pahang Syariah High Court to be detained at the Kajang prison yesterday so that her whipping sentence can be carried out – now postponed till after the fasting month.

One couldn’t help but wonder, why was the first-time offender given the maximum sentence – six whippings and RM5,000 – when she had pleaded guilty and showed remorse?

The judge reasoned that the sentence would deter other Muslims for committing a similar offence, and some politicians had supported his judgment for the same reason.

EYEBROWS have been raised at a Syariah Court in Kuantan meting out a first-ever caning sentence to a local Muslim woman for drinking beer. This isn't the first time decisions made by local religious authorities, in keeping those of the Muslim faith morally in line, have rebounded negatively against them.

Past cases of moral policing gone wrong, especially by Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais), include:

 

IN a new twist, part-time model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor, 32, now says she wants her punishment to be carried out quickly and that she will not file an appeal.

 

Ordered to be whipped six times by the Kuantan Syariah Court, after she had pleaded guilty to consuming beer in public in Cherating, Pahang on July 11, 2007, Bernama reported that Kartika just wanted the ordeal to be over.