Indonesia' strict Muslim province canes couple for sex outside marriage
A man and woman were publicly flogged 100 times each in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province on Wednesday after they were found guilty of sex outside marriage by a court operating under strict Islamic law.
Sexual relations between an unmarried couple are outlawed in Aceh, which imposes a version of sharia, the Islamic legal code.
Indonesia banned sex outside of marriage in its latest criminal code in 2022 but that law will not come into force until next year.
The two were lashed in sets of 10 with a rattan stick as a small crowd watched on at a park in provincial capital Banda Aceh, and the female suspect was lashed by a woman, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
Three other suspects were caned a combined 49 times for alleged gambling and alcohol consumption.
Caning retains strong support among Aceh's population as a common punishment for a range of offences, including gambling, drinking alcohol and adultery. Photo: EPA-EFE
'Today we are carrying out flogging punishment for perpetrators of adultery, alcohol consumption, and online gambling,' Banda Aceh Mayor Illiza Sa'aduddin Djamal told reporters.
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