Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (CNN) -- For the first time, Malaysian authorities have caned three Muslim women under Islamic law for acts of adultery, the Malaysian national news agency Bernama said. 
 
 Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein announced the canings Wednesday, saying the penalty was carried out February 9 at a women's prison near Kuala Lumpur. 
 
 The canings -- a punishment that persists across Malaysian society since the British colonial era of the 19th century -- have been denounced by one Amnesty International official, who says "caning is tantamount to torture." 
 
 But Hishamuddin said the punishment was carried out "to educate and make the offenders realize their mistakes and to return to the right path." 
 
 "It is hoped that the issue will not be wrongly interpreted to the extent of tarnishing the sanctity of Islam," he was quoted as saying. He also said the punishment did not cause any injury and that the women were remorseful and repented, Bernama reported. 
 
 The women were struck with a rattan cane. One woman was released Sunday after spending a month in prison, another will be released in the next few days, and the third will be released in June. 
 
 Malaysia, which considers itself a moderate Muslim country, has a dual-track justice system, in which Islamic courts operate alongside civil ones. Muslims make up about 60 percent of the country's population of 28 million. 
 
 Last year, a woman was sentenced to caning under Islamic law for drinking alcohol in public -- beer at a hotel bar -- and that case caused an uproar in the country. Malaysia forbids alcohol consumption by Muslims, even those who are visiting the country. 
 
 The caning sentence of Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno has been postponed while the issue is under review, and she said that if she were to be caned, she wanted the flogging to occur in public. 
 
 "Let's be transparent about it," said Kartika, a mother and part-time model. An Islamic court also fined her $1,400 for the act. She has pleaded guilty and paid the fine. 
 
 Lance Lattig, a researcher on Malaysia for the human rights group Amnesty International, told CNN that the vast majority of canings are applied to illegal immigrants by civil courts, but the latest examples indicate that sharia courts happen to be picking up on the practice. 
 
 "It's not Muslims on the march," he said. "It's the tip of the iceberg of the bigger problem." 
 
 No matter who does it, he says, the group considers caning to be "cruel, inhumane and degrading." ||||| By Niluksi Koswanage 
 
 KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian authorities have caned three women under Islamic laws for the first time in the Southeast Asian country, the interior minister said on Wednesday. 
 
 Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the sentences were carried out on February 9 after a religious court found them guilty of having sex out of wedlock. Two of the women were whipped six times. 
 
 "It was carried out perfectly."" Hishammuddin said in a statement. "Even though the caning did not injure them (the women), they said it caused pain within them." 
 
 Hishammuddin's comments signal that the mostly Muslim country is now prepared to flog Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a mother of two, for drinking beer, despite the international criticism that the case has garnered. 
 
 That case has put the multi-racial but mostly Muslim country's moderate image under scrutiny at a time when it is trying to draw in investors. Investors in New York last year asked Prime Minister Najib Razak about the Kartika case. 
 
 Malaysia has a dual-track legal system with Islamic criminal and family laws, which are applicable to Muslims, running alongside civil laws. 
 
 Hishammuddin said Kartika's case had flagged concerns about how women should be flogged and that the recent canings demonstrated that the prisons department can carry out punishments in accordance with Shariah (Islamic) law. 
 
 Under these laws, the women have to be whipped in a seated position by a female prison guard and be fully clothed. Continued...
– For the first time in Malaysia's history, three women have been caned under Islamic law for having extramarital sex. "It was carried out perfectly," the country's home minister tells Reuters. "Even though the caning did not injure them, they said it caused pain within them." Amnesty International denounced the punishment, calling it "cruel, inhumane, degrading" and tantamount to torture. The women were beaten with rattan canes at a women's prison after they were found guilty of adultery by a religious court. The action suggests Malaysia may move forward with plans to cane Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, who was sentenced to flogging for drinking beer. Her case, which caused an international outcry, has been postponed pending review, CNN notes. Malaysia, a traditionally moderate Muslim nation, has a two-track legal system with both civil and religious courts.