Indonesian Muslim Woman Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Eating Pork in TikTok Video

Bali: A 33-year-old Muslim woman named Lina Mukherjee has been sentenced to two years in prison in Indonesia under the country’s blasphemy law. The verdict came after she posted a TikTok video in which she recited an Islamic prayer and then tried pork, a forbidden food in Islam, while on vacation in Bali. The Palembang district court on Sumatra island issued the sentence, finding her guilty of “spreading information aimed at inciting hatred against religious individuals and specific groups.”

In the video, Mukherjee can be seen sampling “babi guling,” a popular street food consisting of rice and spit-roasted pork with crackling, served alongside vegetables. The video was viewed by millions but faced strong condemnation from various religious groups, including Indonesia’s top Muslim clerical body, the Indonesian Ulema Council, which deemed it “blasphemous.”

In addition to the prison term, the court imposed a fine of $16,245 on Mukherjee. Failure to pay the fine could lead to an extension of her sentence by three months. Responding to the sentence, Mukherjee expressed her surprise, stating, “I know I was wrong, but I really did not expect this punishment.” She is considering filing an appeal, according to CNN Indonesia.

Despite identifying as Muslim, Mukherjee has a substantial social media following of over 2 million. Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, has a population where approximately 93% of adults identify as Muslim. Pork is strictly forbidden in Islam, and consuming it remains a taboo among the majority of Indonesian Muslims. However, it is commonly eaten by non-Muslim communities in the country, such as the ethnic Chinese population and residents of the Hindu-majority island of Bali.