Cane pain is delayed.

A MUSLIM model who was due to be caned for drinking beer has been reprieved - for now.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno was to be taken to prison this week and lashed six times.

But authorities in Kuala Lumpur have postponed the punishment for a few weeks, until the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Mohamad Sahfri Abdul Aziz, who is in charge of religious affairs, said the move was made for "compassionate reasons".

Kartika, 32, was arrested at a hotel for breaching the country's Shariah law, which forbids Muslims drinking alcohol.