An unmarried couple have been publicly caned 21 times each for violating Sharia law in Indonesia’s Aceh district after they were caught kissing in a parked car.
The couple was found in the Ule Lee port area of the city of Banda Aceh on the island of Sumatra, according to Sindo News.
The public flogging took place at the Bustanul Salatin compound on Wednesday afternoon.
The woman, RO, 23, and the man, M, 24, who were described as a non-Muhrim couple, received 21 lashes with a rattan cane, instead of 25.
The footage shows a police officer speaking into a microphone to bystanders while others take pictures.
An Acehnese woman receives a punishment of 21 lashes for violating Sharia law in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on June 7, 2023.
An Acehnese woman receives 21 lashes with a rattan cane as an officer details the proceedings into a microphone, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on June 7, 2023.
The executioner, or Algojo, is seen covered from head to toe in a brown cloak-like outfit with two eye holes covered by a white mask.
The woman and man are shown being led individually into a room before being punished.
As she is being whipped on a blue carpet, the woman, wearing a white burqa, appears to collapse to the ground in agony.
“The two of them violated article 25, paragraph (1), of Qanun Aceh Number 6 of 2014 relating to the Jinayat Law, i.e. the act of conscience,” said the Head of the Criminal Investigation Section of the Banda Aceh Prosecutor’s Office. , Isnawati, in Banda Aceh.
The car was found parked and swaying, according to the Aceh-based Bithe media outlet.
After searching the vehicle, the officer found the couple kissing.
Until now, RO had been detained at Lhoknga Prison in Aceh Besar and M had been detained at Kajhu Detention Center, Isna said.
A woman is whipped by the executioner, or Algojo, who is covered from head to toe in a brown cape-like outfit, on June 7, 2023.
A woman kneels in agony after being whipped as punishment for being caught too close to a man in the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh.
An Acehnese woman is escorted as part of a punishment of up to 25 lashes for violating Sharia law in Banda Aceh, Indonesia on June 7, 2023.
Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world.
Aceh is the only one of the nation’s 34 provinces that can legally adopt Sharia-derived statutes.
The province follows religious law as part of a 2005 autonomy deal agreed with the central government that ended a decades-long separatist insurgency.
Public flogging remains a common punishment for dozens of offenders for a range of charges including gambling, adultery, alcohol use and homosexual or premarital sex.
The ‘proximity’ law criminalizes the association of single people of the opposite sex in some circumstances.
The Aceh sharia police have interpreted the broadly worded sharia-inspired adultery law to prohibit simply 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 privacy, according to Human Rights Observer.
The controversial punishment infuriates rights activists and generates heated debate in the media, as well as among politicians.
Members of the Sharia police, including one carrying a rifle, escort a woman to be flogged as punishment for being caught too close to a man in Banda Aceh on June 7, 202.
Members of the Sharia police escort a man to be flogged as punishment for being caught near a woman in Banda Aceh on June 7, 2023.
A man looks on as he receives his caning at the Bustanul Salatin compound on June 7, 2023.
I am Rakesh Sharma, I associated with Elite News as an Editor, since 2021. I take care of all the news operations like content, budget, hiring and policy making.