Gladness Gideon
A man and a woman were each publicly flogged 100 times on Wednesday in Indonesia’s Aceh province after being convicted of engaging in sexual relations outside marriage, a violation under the region’s strict interpretation of Islamic law.
The punishment was carried out in a public park in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, where a crowd of spectators watched as the two were lashed with a rattan cane in sets of ten. The female convict was flogged by a female officer, in accordance with local practice. Medical personnel were stationed nearby to attend to those involved.
Aceh, the only province in Indonesia that enforces Sharia law, permits public caning for offences such as adultery, gambling, alcohol consumption, and same-sex relations. While Indonesia passed a nationwide law criminalising sex outside marriage in 2022, that legislation is not expected to take effect until 2026.
Three other individuals were also flogged in the same public session—two for gambling and one for consuming alcohol—receiving a combined total of 49 lashes.
Banda Aceh Mayor, Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal, defended the punishment, saying it served as a “moral lesson” for the wider community.
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“This flogging punishment becomes a gateway to repentance for them,” she stated.
Human rights organisations have continued to criticise Aceh’s public flogging practices as inhumane and degrading. Nonetheless, the practice remains broadly supported by the local population and is seen by regional authorities as an essential part of their autonomous legal identity.
Aceh was granted special autonomy in 2001 as part of efforts by the Indonesian government to quell decades of separatist conflict. Since then, it has maintained and expanded its use of religious law within its judicial framework.
In a related incident earlier this year, two men were flogged more than 150 times each after being convicted of same-sex sexual activity, another act criminalised under Aceh’s Sharia-based legal code.