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If you want to avoid jail in Bali, never lose your temper and treat an Indonesian immigration officer as the woman does in the video clips below.

Everyone seems keen to disown Auj-E-Taqaddas, a 43-year-old British woman of Pakistani origin who last year slapped an immigration officer in Bali in an argument over a fine for overstaying her visa.

Taqaddas will spend six months in an Indonesian jail after being found guilty of the assault, which was captured on video.

The video proved controversial in its own right, because when it was posted on Twitter last August, the caption read: “Lady from India sentenced to 3 yrs in jail for slapping immigration officer in Bali !”

Indians took immediate offence, pointing out that Taqaddas was not Indian but British, and of Pakistani origin, having been born in Lahore, Pakistan. One site even went to the trouble of publishing a photo of her passport.

Others made clear that she was not Indian.

Taqaddas has filed an appeal, accusing prosecutors of torturing her three times, a charge prosecutors deny.

Taqaddas was this week found guilty in a court in Denpasar of violence against an officer at Bali airport conducting his legal duty.

She was sentenced to six months in prison, just half of the one-year term sought by the prosecution. Taqaddas was said to have overstayed her visa by about 160 days and was told to pay a fine of IDR 300,000 (AUD 30.30) for each day, or about AUD 4850 all up.

Overstaying your visa is unwise anywhere and slapping an immigration officer is a definite no-no.

Written by Peter Needham