A man and woman were publicly flogged 100 times each in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh region on Wednesday after being found guilty of sex outside marriage by a strict Islamic court.
Sexual contacts between unmarried couples are prohibited in Aceh, which follows a variant of Sharia, the Islamic legal system.
Indonesia banned sex outside of marriage in its penal code in 2022, but the rule will not take effect until next year.
A small crowd watched as the two were lashed in sets of 10 with a rattan stick in a park in Banda Aceh.
The female suspect was lashed by another woman, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.
Three other suspects were caned a combined 49 times for 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 care was available to attend to all those convicted.
Rights groups have criticised the punishment as severe.
Caning remains a popular punishment in Aceh for many transgressions such as gambling, alcohol consumption, and adultery.
In February, two men were publicly flogged over 150 times for having sexual relations. Gay sex is illegal in Aceh.
In 2001, the central government granted the region extraordinary autonomy to address a long-standing separatist rebellion, which led to the implementation of religious law.
