A woman was flogged 140 times till she fainted and had to be hospitalised for having premarital sex in Indonesia’s Aceh province.
Her partner received the same number of strokes of a cane on Thursday after the couple were found guilty of engaging in sex outside marriage and consuming alcohol under the region’s strict Islamic laws.
Aceh is the only province in Indonesia that operates under a form of sharia law, which strictly forbids sexual relationships between unmarried individuals and the consumption of alcohol.
The punishment was carried out at a public park in Banda Aceh, where residents gathered to witness the caning.
Journalists at the scene reported that the woman collapsed during the punishment and was later taken away in an ambulance.
Muhammad Rizal, head of Banda Aceh’s sharia police, explained that the couple received 100 strokes for engaging in premarital sex and an additional 40 for drinking alcohol.
“It is our responsibility to enforce the law without favour. No one is above it, including our own officers,” Rizal said.
He noted that the sentence ranks among the highest number of lashes imposed since Aceh was granted special autonomy in 2001, which allowed the province to introduce Islamic legal codes.
The couple was part of a group of six individuals punished publicly on the same day for violating religious laws. Among them was a sharia police officer and his female companion, who were each given 23 strokes after being caught in a private situation.
Public caning remains a common form of punishment in Aceh for offences such as gambling, alcohol consumption, same-sex relationships, and sex outside marriage.
Although the practice continues to attract criticism from human rights groups worldwide, local authorities maintain that it serves as a deterrent and upholds moral standards in the conservative region.
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