A lady in Indonesia’s Aceh province has reportedly develop into the primary particular person to be publicly caned there for “committing obscenity stay with a person on social media” underneath the area’s strict interpretation of Sharia regulation.
Authorities imposed the punishment after the lady and her associate have been accused of kissing whereas showing collectively on a TikTok livestream.
Images from the scene present the lady kneeling as a masked Sharia police officer strikes her again with a cane throughout the public punishment.
She appeared visibly distressed because the blows continued, earlier than the ordeal turned overwhelming and she or he misplaced consciousness.
Dozens of individuals gathered to look at the caning, and a few members of the gang have been heard urging officers finishing up the sentence to “whip stronger.”
The girl had been sentenced to 21 lashes, although it stays unclear what number of had been administered by the point she fainted.
Photographs present her collapsing whereas clutching her again, as a lady standing close by shortly moved in to catch and help her.
She was then seen mendacity immobile on the bottom whereas a medic checked her situation to determine whether or not she was bodily in a position to proceed receiving the punishment.
Even when she requires medical therapy, she is not going to escape the sentence, with any remaining lashes postponed till she is deemed nicely sufficient to finish the caning.
A lady has develop into the primary particular person to be publicly caned in Indonesia’s Aceh province for ‘committing obscenity stay with a person on social media’ underneath its strict Sharia regulation
Chilling pictures present her kneeling and screaming in agony as a masked Sharia police officer repeatedly brings the cane down throughout her again
She is seen collapsing to the bottom clutching her again as a lady behind her rushes ahead to catch her
It’s unclear how lots of the 27 lashes she had acquired earlier than she fainted
Aceh is the one province in Indonesia that enforces Sharia regulation, underneath which same-sex relationships and intercourse outdoors marriage are legal offences
This isn’t the primary time somebody has collapsed throughout a public caning within the province
Rows of law enforcement officials watched the punishment from their seats because it was carried out in public
Convicts attend a public flogging for violating Sharia Legislation in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 02 July 2026
Officers escort Sharia Legislation violators for a public flogging in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 02 July 2026
Rows of law enforcement officials watched the punishment from their seats because it was carried out in public.
The girl’s associate was additionally caned over the TikTok livestream, whereas 4 different convicts additionally acquired lashes.
The couple was reported to the authorities after they have been seen kissing throughout a livestream on the video app TikTok, which prompted an investigation that led to their punishment, town’s sharia police head Muhammad Rizal advised reporters on Thursday.
‘They clearly violated the Islamic sharia,’ Rizal stated, including that it was the primary time within the religiously conservative province that individuals have been punished for violating sharia regulation by way of social media.
Acts of bodily intimacy reminiscent of kissing, hugging or touching between women and men who aren’t husband and spouse are forbidden in Aceh, the one province within the Southeast Asian nation that applies a model of the Islamic regulation.
Amnesty Worldwide Indonesia spokesman Haeril Halim stated the punishment for the couple was ‘a horrifying act of discrimination’.
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‘This reveals that the Aceh Islamic Felony Code (Qanun Jinayat) has expanded its attain to focus on peaceable expressions within the digital sphere with the caning of the younger couple,’ he stated in an announcement to AFP.
He referred to as for the federal government to finish the usage of caning, including that corporal punishment ‘has no place in a simply and humane society’.
One other couple additionally acquired 27 lashes on Thursday for bodily intimacy, whereas two males have been caned 29 instances and eight instances, respectively, for playing.
In Might, authorities flogged two males and two ladies 100 instances for having intercourse outdoors of marriage. 5 others have been additionally caned on the time for violations together with being in proximity of members of the alternative intercourse and alcohol consumption.
Caning, although not a authorized type of punishment in Indonesia, retains robust help in Aceh.
Pictured: Medics assess the lady after she fainted throughout the caning
Human rights teams say the general public humiliation provides to the cruelty and causes lasting psychological harm. Pictured: The girl mendacity on the ground
A person convicted of violating Sharia regulation for livestreaming obscene acts on social media was caned in Banda Aceh, Aceh Province
Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, however formally recognises six religions in addition to indigenous beliefs.
This isn’t the primary time somebody has collapsed throughout a public caning within the province.
In June, a lady fainted after she and her associate every acquired 100 lashes for having intercourse outdoors marriage underneath Aceh’s Sharia regulation. She needed to be carried away after collapsing throughout the punishment.
The couple have been amongst a number of folks publicly caned that day for offences together with extramarital intercourse organized by way of on-line apps.
Public caning is used to punish a variety of offences underneath Aceh’s Sharia code, together with playing, ingesting alcohol, same-sex relationships and having sexual relations outdoors marriage.
Little one rape carries the harshest punishment underneath the province’s Sharia legal guidelines, with offenders going through as much as 200 strokes of the cane, a jail sentence of as much as 200 months or a wonderful equal to 2 kilograms of gold.
The general public nature of the punishments is meant to disgrace offenders in addition to inflict ache.
Canings are sometimes staged outdoors mosques or in neighborhood squares, with crowds gathering to look at and {photograph} the occasion.
Human rights teams say the general public humiliation provides to the cruelty and causes lasting psychological harm.
Amnesty Worldwide and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly condemned the follow, saying it violates Indonesia’s structure and its obligations underneath worldwide regulation.
The girl’s associate was additionally caned after being accused of collaborating within the livestream, which included a {couples} kissing one another on digicam, whereas 4 different convicts additionally acquired lashes
A person convicted of violating Aceh’s Sharia regulation for stay social media obscenity is escorted by officers as he’s about to be caned in Banda Aceh, Aceh Province
An Acehnese girl reacts to lashing throughout public caning punishment for violating Sharia Legislation
Amnesty stated in an announcement: ‘Caning contravenes Indonesia’s structure and is in clear violation of worldwide human rights regulation and requirements.
‘It constitutes a merciless, inhuman and degrading punishment and might quantity to torture in violation of the UN Conference in opposition to Torture and different worldwide covenants, to which Indonesia is a State Social gathering.’
Native officers have defended the follow as a deterrent and as a part of the province’s id, whereas critics argue it has broken Indonesia’s human rights repute and inflicted lasting trauma on these pressured to endure it.
In January, one other girl collapsed after she and her associate got a mixed whole of 140 lashes for ingesting alcohol and having intercourse outdoors marriage. She needed to be escorted to an ambulance after the general public punishment.
Final 12 months, two males have been every given 76 lashes after being discovered responsible by a Sharia courtroom of getting intercourse.
Sharia regulation in Aceh was launched in 2002, with additional provisions added the next 12 months.
Among the many measures launched in 2003 was a ban on an individual being alone with somebody of the alternative intercourse who’s neither a partner nor a relative.
In 2018, the province started consulting the general public on whether or not it ought to introduce beheading as a punishment, though Indonesia’s central authorities warned such plans wouldn’t be permitted underneath nationwide regulation.
