Model Caning Case – Malaysian Prison Authorities Ready To Cane

So while Sudan’s Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein escaped caning, Malaysian model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno is in danger of actually being caned.  The press has quoted Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein as having “cleared” the Prisons Department to cane model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno. He said: “I am now satisfied that the caning can be carried out by the department if the court decides to proceed and enforce the sentence.”

Earlier Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said that Malaysia would need  to study the proper procedures before caning the woman according to Syariah law, because Malaysia has never caned a woman before. He was adamant that he would not permit the Prisons Department to carry out the caning sentence if it did not possess the expertise and knowledge to do so.

So what made the Home Minister convinced that the Prisons Department now has the knowledge and expertise to cane Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno? Well the Prisons Department organized a caning demonstration for Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.  Director General Datuk Zulkifli Omar and a lady officer gave the caning demonstration. The Home Minister was impressed.  He said: “She tapped the back of a chair with the cane. There was little force involved and it was not going to inflict pain, not even like the caning carried out in schools in those days”.

So is Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno headed for a caning?  Looks like it, doesn’t it?  But then, like a true politician, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein began to hedge his words.  He said that although he was now satisfied that the department was able to conduct the caning, he still felt it had no experience to do so. Is this the face-saving way to spare Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno the cane?

Think about it.  If the effect of caning is not felt, as Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein seems to say so, then why go through all this in the first place? From what the Home Minister describes, caning Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno will not be punishing her, nor do the lashes of the cane teach her anything if there is no pain.  The only effect on Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno is likely to be emotional or psychological. So why all the hassle?

Related posts

Who Is Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno?
Model Caning Case – Latest Developments
To Cane Or Not?
New Twist In Malaysian Model Caning Case