Indonesian court jails woman for praying before eating pork meat in TikTok video

A court in Indonesia on Wednesday, sentenced a woman to two years in prison with a heavy fine after she was found guilty of reciting an Islamic prayer before eating pork meat in a viral TikTok video.

She was also fined 250 million rupiah ($16,200) for which her jail term would be extended by three months if it was not paid.

The convict, Lina Mukherjee, 33, was found guilty on charges of “spreading information aimed at inciting hatred against religious individuals and specific groups” by a court in the South Sumatra city of Palembang.

The video had drawn widespread criticism in the Muslim-majority country where eating of pork is a taboo, leading to protests by Muslim faithful.

Read also: Indonesian teacher sentenced to life in prison for defiling 13 students

Mukherjee was arrested in March after the video went viral and amassed millions of views. In the offensive video, she was seen uttering a Muslim prayer that translates to “in the name of God, before consuming the crispy pork skin,” according to prosecutors.

Reacting to the video at the time, the country’s top Muslim clerical body, the Indonesian Ulema Council, had condemned her actions and called for her arrest and prosecution while declaring the video blasphemous.

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