MAIL ONLINE: Three Muslim women who were the first in Malaysia to be caned for having sex outside marraige this morning claimed the punishment was an opportunity for them to repent.
Prison authorities caned the women last week after an Islamic Shariah court issued the penalty.
The caning has outraged rights groups and revived speculation that conservative Islamists, who advocate harsh punishment, are gaining influence in the country.
The three women, aged 17-25, said they turned themselves in after feeling guilty for sleeping with their boyfriends before marriage and getting pregnant.
The 17-year-old told reporters that she surrendered to Islamic authorities after her prematurely born child died.
She is now serving a six-month prison sentence.
'I know I have sinned, and I have to be punished. Strangely however, I felt that the caning was not a form of punishment but was an opportunity for me to repent and return to the right path,' she said.
She has already married her boyfriend, who has also been caned and jailed over the offence.
The other women, who have one young child each, are planning to marry their partners after they are released.
The men were also caned for having sex. 'We deserved our punishment': What three Muslim Malaysian women said after being caned for having sex outside marriage >>> | Saturday, February 20, 2010
