'Whip-for-drinking-beer' model's father hopes she will be spared the cane

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 31 (ANI): The father of Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, the former model booked for drinking beer in Malaysia, hopes that his daughter will be spared the cane if her case comes up for review.

Shukarno Mutalib said: "I'm looking forward to hearing good news and I have sought the counsel of Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria, who assured me everything would be okay during this holy month."

Shukarno said he and Kartika would accept any decision made by the authorities.

Kartika, 32, was fined RM5,000 and sentenced to six strokes of the rotan by the Syariah High Court in Kuantan on July 20 after pleading guilty to drinking beer at a hotel in Cherating in 2007.

It is understood that the religious authorities are considering reviewing her case, The NST Online reported.

Shukarno was touched by the support from those who sympathised with Kartika.

"Now that it's Ramadan, it's never lonely at home. People come with kind words for Kartika, as her child is also sick. There are those who bring food and come to break fast with us," Shukarno said.

He also said that the media hype had brought members of many Muslim non-governmental organisations, such as Sisters In Islam, to his doorstep.

"This shows that not all Islam-based NGOs are lobbying for Kartika to be caned. Some want her to undergo religious classes and such as punishment."

He asked reporters to stop harassing Kartika for comments on the phone or by staking out their family home as she was nursing her second child who was down with pneumonia.

Kartika was to have been detained at the prison last Monday so that the caning could be carried out. But minutes after she was picked up, she was released.

Pahang Religious Affairs Committee chairman Sahfri Abdul Razak said then that the sentence would be carried out after Ramadan. (ANI)