A Malaysian state will cane a Muslim woman who drank alcohol once the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is over, a state government official said on Monday.
"The punishment has not been cancelled, it was postponed because of Ramadan," Pahang state Executive Councillor for Religion, Missionary Work and Unity, Mohamad Sahfri Abdul Aziz, told Reuters.
Earlier on Monday, moves to cane 32-year old Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno were halted when state authorities said a warrant to take her to prison where she was to be caned could not be enforced.
Ms Kartika was released from a van that would have transported her to the prison in Pahang state in eastern mainland Malaysia where she committed the offence that she admits and for which she wanted to be punished in public.
Ms Kartika, who has admitted that she drank beer at a hotel in Pahang in December 2007, said that she still accepted the sentence but wanted to be treated fairly.
"I am shocked but I remain steadfast with my decision," Kartika, wearing a cream-coloured, traditional long Malay dress decorated with flowers and a headscarf, told reporters after the state announced it would push ahead with the caning.
"All I want now is to know my true situation and do not treat me like a football," said Ms Kartika who had worked as a nurse in Singapore until her trial.
While caning is a common punishment under Malaysia's civil code, no woman has been caned, and the severity of the punishment has generated criticism that this modern majority-Muslim state was becoming more hardline.
Reuters