Friday, February 19, 2010

Three woman caned for having extramaterial sex

An article I found via feministing, which highlights whom we care about. The news here is that women got caned, the article just dropped the men that were caned as well (and probably more harshly). Some quotes from other articles:
Malaysian authorities said Wednesday that officials caned four Muslim men and, for the first time, three Muslim women this month after being found guilty of having sex out of wedlock. [...] All seven were found guilty of illicit sex and sentenced by a Shariah court in the Kuala Lumpur area between December 2009 and January 2010. [...] Two of the women and the four men were struck six times, while the other woman was struck four times. Mr. Hishammuddin said that a doctor was present at the canings, which took place in male and female prisons, and that the offenders weren't tied. The women were seated while they were struck, and no injuries were reported. The idea, the officials previously have said, is to humiliate rather than injure—unlike the canings administered to drug pushers and other violators of civil laws, which can sometimes leave deep scars.

“It was carried out perfectly.” Hishammuddin said in a statement. “Even though the caning did not injure them (the women), they said it caused pain within them.” [...] Under these laws, the women have to be whipped in a seated position by a female prison guard and be fully clothed. Sex out of marriage is considered illegal under Islamic law and punishments can range from a fine to six strokes of the cane or both.
So to summarize, although caning affects more men than women, once women get punished as well there is an uproar. I am not surprised here. Hopefully that uproar leads to abolishing that kind of punishment (and not just for women).

1 comment:

  1. I do not know if caning will work for Americans. I guess when you are really up to no good, you don't care about anything else anymore. But then, I still can't help but think what if?

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