By Deborah Nnamdi
An unmarried couple has been publicly flogged in Indonesia’s Aceh province after being found guilty of engaging in sexual relations outside marriage, in line with the region’s strict enforcement of Islamic law.
The man and woman, whose identities and ages were not disclosed, each received 100 lashes of a rattan cane on Tuesday in a public park in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital. The punishment was carried out before dozens of onlookers.
Aceh is the only region in Indonesia that implements a version of Sharia law, under which sexual relations between unmarried individuals are prohibited.
Speaking after the caning, a local prosecutor’s office official, Rajesh Kana, said authorities were obligated to enforce the law whenever violations occur.
“We implement Islamic law in Aceh, so whenever someone violates it, we have to carry out punishments like the caning we just conducted,” he said.
The couple were among six individuals punished on the same day. Four others received between eight and 29 lashes each for offences including physical contact with members of the opposite sex and alcohol consumption.
One of the punished individuals, a woman sentenced to 27 lashes, reportedly fainted during the final stroke and required medical attention from paramedics at the scene.
Public caning remains widely supported in Aceh as a form of punishment for offences such as gambling, alcohol use, and same-sex relations. In January, authorities in the province carried out one of the harshest recent penalties, flogging an unmarried couple 140 times each.
While Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, it officially recognises multiple religions and belief systems, with Sharia law applied exclusively in Aceh province.
AFP
