A man and a woman were publicly flogged 100 times each on Wednesday in Indonesia’s Aceh province after being convicted of having sex outside of marriage — an offense under the region’s strict implementation of Islamic sharia law.
The punishment took place in a public park in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, where a small crowd gathered. The flogging was administered with rattan canes, with the female suspect lashed by a female officer, according to reports from AFP journalists at the scene.
Aceh is the only province in Indonesia that enforces a version of sharia law, granted under a 2001 autonomy agreement aimed at ending a separatist conflict. The regional law prohibits extramarital sex, gambling, alcohol consumption, and same-sex relations — all punishable by caning.
Three other individuals were also flogged — receiving a total of 49 lashes — for offenses related to alcohol and online gambling.
“Today we are carrying out flogging punishments for perpetrators of adultery, alcohol consumption, and online gambling,” Banda Aceh Mayor Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal told reporters. “This serves as a moral reminder and a path to repentance.”
Medical personnel were present to monitor the health of those punished.
Human rights groups have condemned the practice as inhumane, calling for its abolition. Nonetheless, public caning continues to have broad support among Aceh’s population.
In a previous case this year, two men were publicly flogged over 150 times for engaging in same-sex relations — also criminalized under Aceh’s laws.
Although Indonesia passed a national law in 2022 banning sex outside marriage, it will not take effect until 2026.
