This is just horrid. Christian Science Monitor reports that for the first time in Malaysia, three women were caned this month after being charged with adultery by a court of Islamic law.
What’s interesting is that Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein actually wanted to publicize this punishment because of a similar case, still pending, where a woman was caught drinking. Because the media had caught on, leading much opposition that the shariah courts were being severe, Hishammuddin said there was “too much hype” and wanted to alleviate the horror of that case with, um, this one. Via CSM:
“People are saying that no woman has been caned before… today I am announcing that we have already done it,” he told a press conference. He added that the women didn’t suffer any cuts or bruises from the caning and had “repented” for their offenses. Four men were also convicted of “illicit sex” and sentenced to whipping.
The fact that Hishammuddin would expect the public to back off because adultery is supposedly a more “acceptable” case for such punishment is just completely baffling. It’s just another example of the systematic oppression and violence against women that’s normalized across the globe (and in this case, supported by nation’s leaders).
Pic via Christian Science Monitor.