Malaysia has caned three women for having extramarital sex, in a move at odds with the moderate Islamic nation that the Government wants to project to the world.
Announcing the sentence, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein declined to say who was caned, where the whipping took place and on what part of the body.
One woman was released from prison last week after spending a month behind bars.
Malaysia has increasingly applied Sharia, or Islamic law, to its Muslim citizens, who make up 60 percent of the country's 28 million people, raising concerns that a more militant brand of Islam is taking hold in a country that prides itself on its multiracial, multireligious image.
"This reflects the delicate balancing act that the Government in Kuala Lumpur has to perform," said Bradley Allan, director of the Hong Kong-based security company Allan & Associates.
"On the one hand there is its international reputation as a moderate Muslim state, a multiethnic community living in harmony, and, at the same time, balancing the more conservative Islamic elements who would like to see Malaysia move closer to more conservative Islamic values."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7031724.ece