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Malaysia canes three women for adultery - Asia - Malaysia - crime - adultery

Malaysia canes three women for adultery

Malaysia has for the first time punished three Muslim women, convicted of adultery by a shariah court of Islamic law, with caning. The women also received short jail sentences.

Published: 02/18/2010 19:48
Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said he wanted to publicize their cases, due to "too much hype" over an earlier case when a Muslim woman caught drinking. She got a similar sentence last August, but her punishment is still pending.

"People are saying that no woman has been caned before… today I am announcing that we have already done it," the minister told reporters. He added that the women didn’t suffer any cuts or bruises as a result of the punishment and had "repented" for their offenses. 

During caning, a rattan cane is used against bare buttocks and can leave painful wounds.

Sisters in Islam, a liberal advocacy group, criticized the caning. The group claims that the punishment violated the consitution and that the case showed "further discrimination against Muslim women in Malaysia".

Amnesty International said that caning was unacceptable as a punishment for any crime, regardless of the offender's gender. Amnesty claims that around 35,000 men in Malaysia have been caned since 2002, mostly illegal migrants. 
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