CANING in Malaysia has “hit epidemic proportions” with thousands of people subjected every year to beatings which leave permanent physical and mental scars, Amnesty International has said.

A MALAYSIAN Muslim model who faced a caning for drinking beer in a case that grabbed headlines around the world has had her sentence reduced to community service, her father said yesterday.

A Malaysian Cabinet minister praised an Islamic court for indefinitely suspending the caning of a woman found guilty of drinking beer and said the sentence made the country appear cruel.

Islamic officials unexpectedly freed a Muslim model today, who was due to be caned for drinking beer.