Couple are publicly whipped for breaking Sharia law in Indonesia

2023-06-07

Caned and shamed… for making out in a parked car: Unmarried couple are publicly whipped 21 times each for breaking Sharia law in Indonesia’s Aceh district

The two were caught in Ule Lee Harbor area of Banda Aceh City in Sumatra
The public whipping took place on Wednesday afternoon

An unmarried couple have been publicly whipped 21 times each for breaking Sharia law in Indonesia’s Aceh district after they were caught making out in a parked car.

The couple were found in the Ule Lee Harbor area of Banda Aceh City, on the island of Sumatra, according to Sindo News.

The public whipping took place at the Bustanul Salatin complex on Wednesday afternoon.

The woman, RO, 23, and the man, M, 24, who were described as a non-muhrim couple, were given 21 lashes, reduced from 25.

Images show a police officer speaking to those watching the act on a microphone while others take photographs.

An Acehnese woman receives a caning punishment of 21 lashes for breaking the Sharia law in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on June 7, 2023

The executioner, or Algojo, is seen covered from head to toe in a brown cloak-like costume with two eye holes covered by a white mask.

Images show how the woman and man were individually led to a room before being punished.

While being caned on a blue carpet, the woman, who is wearing a white burka, appears to slump forward towards the floor in agony.

‘The two of them violated Article 25 paragraph (1) of Qanun Aceh Number 6 of 2014 concerning the Jinayat Law, namely the act of conscientiousness,’ said Head of Criminal Investigation Section of the Banda Aceh Prosecutor’s Office, Isnawati, in Banda Aceh.

The car was found parked and swaying, according to Aceh media outlet Bithe.

After checking the vehicle, the officer found the couple making out.

Until now, RO had been detained at the Lhoknga prison, in Aceh Besar and M had been detained at the Kajhu detention center, Isna said.

Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population.

Aceh is the only one of the nation’s 34 provinces that can legally adopt bylaws derived from Sharia.

The ‘close proximity’ law makes association by unmarried individuals of the opposite sex a criminal offense in some circumstances.

Aceh’s Sharia police have interpreted the broadly worded Sharia-inspired adultery law to prohibit merely sitting and talking in a ‘quiet’ space with a member of the opposite sex to whom one is not married or related – even without any evidence of intimacy, according to Human Rights Watch.

A woman is caned by a member of the Sharia police as punishment for being caught in close proximity with a man in Banda Aceh on June 7, 2023

A woman reacts during a caning punishment by members of the Sharia police after she was caught in close proximity with a man in Banda Aceh

An Acehnese woman is escorted as part of a caning punishment up to 25 lashes for breaking the Sharia law in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on June 7, 2023

Members of the Sharia police escort a woman to be caned as punishment for being caught in close proximity with a man in Banda Aceh on June 7, 202

Members of the Sharia police escort a man to be caned as punishment for being caught in close proximity with a woman in Banda Aceh on June 7, 2023

A man is caned by a member of the Sharia police as punishment for being caught in close proximity with a woman in Banda Aceh on June 7, 2023

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