A Muslim model who was ordered to be caned for drinking beer urged the Malaysian authorities on Sunday to decide what should happen to her four months after her case was halted. Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was sentenced to six strokes by a religious court in July, the first woman ordered to be caned under Islamic law in Malaysia, a moderate Muslim-majority country.
But she won a surprise reprieve in late August when she was detained and then abruptly released by religious officials who had planned to take her to a jail where she was to undergo the thrashing. The government said the sentence was "too harsh" and could damage Malaysia's reputation.
"They should declare what they want to do with me, tell me, don't leave me in limbo, at least I would know where am I," Kartika told AFP by telephone from her hometown in northern Perak state.
"My stand is still the same - if they decide they want to cane me, please do it. I don't want to pressure them but what they promised is to postpone the caning until after the holy month of Ramadan, which was over in September.
Kartika, a part-time model and mother-of-two, has stared down religious authorities by saying she is ready to be caned, refusing to appeal against her sentence, and challenging them to cane her in public.