A couple in Indonesia was caned 140 times each for having sex outside of marriage and drinking alcohol, which violates Sharia, or Islamic religious law.
The 21-year-old woman fainted as three female cops struck her with a rattan cane while she wept. After collapsing, female officers took her off the platform and into an ambulance.
On Thursday, the couple and four others, including an officer from the Islamic police force, were caned after being found guilty of violating Sharia law.
Caning is a traditional punishment for breaching Islamic law in religiously devout Aceh, although rights groups have long criticized the practice as inhumane.
Under Aceh’s Islamic criminal code, sex outside marriage is punishable by 100 strokes of the cane, while consuming alcohol has a 40-stroke penalty.
Flogging is not regulated properly, says Azharul Husna, the Aceh coordinator for Indonesian rights group Kontras, adding that the rules around how such punishments are carried out should be “improved” to support people after they’re caned.
The officer from the Islamic police force was given 23 strokes, as was his female partner, for being in close proximity in a private place.
He was caught alone with her in her house, according to Muhammad Rizal, the head of Aceh’s Islamic police unit, who also stated that the officer will be terminated.
Aceh is the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia that enforces Sharia law and punishes many offenders with public canings.
