A couple in Indonesia’s Aceh province received 140 cane lashes each by Sharia police on Thursday for having premarital sex and drinking alcohol, following the region’s strict Sharia law.
According to reports, sexual relations between an unmarried couple are strictly outlawed in Aceh, the only place in Indonesia to impose a version of sharia.
According to an AFP reporter at the scene, the couple, a man and a woman, were struck on their backs with a rattan stick in a public park as dozens of people watched, while the woman fainted after enduring her punishment and was escorted to an ambulance.
In total, the pair received 140 lashes: 100 for sex outside marriage and 40 for consuming alcohol, the Head of Banda Aceh’s Sharia police, Muhammad Rizal, told AFP.
According to AFP, it is thought to be one of the highest numbers of cane lashes imposed since sharia was implemented after Aceh was granted special autonomy in 2001, stressing that the couple was among six people flogged for breaking the Islamic code, including a sharia police officer and his female partner, who were caught in proximity in a private place; the couple received 23 strikes each.
“As promised, we make no exceptions, especially not for our own members. This certainly tarnishes our name,” Rizal said.
AFP further added that caning retains strong support in Aceh to punish a range of offences, including gambling, drinking alcohol, having gay sex and having sexual relations outside marriage, giving an instance that, last year, two men were publicly flogged 76 times each after they were found guilty of sexual relations by the sharia court.
Source: AFP
