Authorities in Indonesia’s Aceh province have publicly caned an unmarried couple 140 times each after they were found guilty of having sex outside marriage and consuming alcohol under the region’s strict Sharia law.
The punishment was carried out by Sharia police, who flogged the pair with a rattan cane in public as residents watched. Reports said the woman fainted during the punishment and was taken away for medical attention.
According to authorities, the sentence included 100 lashes for premarital sex and 40 lashes for alcohol-related offences.
The case is believed to be among the harshest corporal punishments handed down since Aceh began enforcing Islamic criminal law, which strictly outlaws sexual relations between unmarried couples and alcohol consumption.
Officials said the couple were among six people punished for violating Sharia codes, including a Sharia police officer and his partner, who were also flogged for related offences.
Aceh remains the only province in Indonesia permitted to implement Sharia-based criminal law, where punishments can include public caning, fines, or imprisonment for offences such as gambling, drinking alcohol, and sex outside marriage.
Public caning continues to be widely enforced in the conservative province despite criticism from international human rights groups.
