Sharia police in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Thursday publicly caned a man and a woman 140 times each for having sex outside marriage and drinking alcohol.
It was gathered that while the man survived the punishment without mishap, his female partner fainted and was rushed to the hospital following the punishment.
The punishment is believed to be one of the harshest since the deeply conservative region adopted Islamic law.
Aceh is the only province in Indonesia that enforces a strict version of sharia. Under the law, sexual relations between unmarried couples are strictly forbidden, just as the consumption of alcohol is banned.
The punishment took place in a public park in Banda Aceh, where dozens of residents gathered to watch. The couple was whipped on their backs with a rattan cane, according to an AFP reporter who witnessed the event.
During the punishment, the woman reportedly fainted after receiving several lashes. She was later assisted and taken away in an ambulance for medical attention.
Explaining the severity of the sentence, the head of Banda Aceh’s Sharia police, Muhammad Rizal, said the couple received 100 lashes for having sex outside marriage and 40 lashes for consuming alcohol. “In total, the pair received 140 lashes,” he told AFP.
Authorities believe this is among the highest number of lashes handed down since Aceh was granted special autonomy in 2001, a development that allowed the province to formally implement Islamic law.
The couple was part of a larger group of six people punished for violating the Islamic code. Among them was a sharia police officer and his female partner, who were found together in a private place. That pair received 23 lashes each.
Rizal said the enforcement applied to everyone, including officials. “As promised, we make no exceptions, especially not for our own members. This certainly tarnishes our name,” he said.
Public caning remains widely supported in Aceh as a punishment for several offences. These include gambling, drinking alcohol, same-sex relations and sexual activity outside marriage.
Only last year, two men were publicly flogged 76 times each after a sharia court found them guilty of engaging in sexual relations.