A man and woman were publicly flogged 100 times each in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province after being found guilty of sex outside marriage by a court operating under strict Islamic law.
The punishment was carried out in a park in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, with the female suspect being lashed by a woman.
The couple was punished under Sharia law, which is enforced in Aceh province.
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Indonesia banned sex outside of marriage in its latest criminal code in 2022, but the law won’t come into force until next year.
The two were lashed in sets of 10 with a rattan stick as a small crowd watched on at a park in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, and the female suspect was lashed by a woman, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
Three other suspects were caned a combined 49 times for alleged gambling and alcohol consumption.
”Today we are carrying out flogging punishment for perpetrators of adultery, alcohol consumption, and online gambling,” Banda Aceh Mayor Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal told reporters.
”This becomes a moral lesson for the community at large. This flogging punishment becomes a gateway to repentance for them.”
Medical services were on standby for all of those convicted.
Rights groups have condemned the punishment as draconian.
Yet caning retains strong support among Aceh’s population as a common punishment for a range of offences including gambling, drinking alcohol, and adultery.
In February two men were publicly flogged more than 150 times after being found guilty of sexual relations. Gay sex is outlawed in Aceh.
The region started using religious law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001, an attempt by the central government to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.
(AFP)
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