Audio By Carbonatix
A couple in Indonesia has been caned 140 times for having sex outside marriage and drinking alcohol because it violates Sharia, or Islamic religious law.
The 21-year-old woman fainted after what authorities said was a record number of strokes to be meted out in a public caning session in the Aceh province.
Three female officers took turns striking her with a rattan cane, while she cried. After she collapsed, she was carried off the stage by female officers to an ambulance.
The couple were caned on Thursday along with four others, including an officer from the Islamic police force, who were all found guilty of violating Sharia.
Caning is a common punishment for breaking Islamic law in religiously conservative Aceh, although the practice has long drawn criticism from rights groups who say it’s cruel.
Under Aceh’s Islamic criminal code, sex outside marriage is punishable by 100 strokes of the cane, while consuming alcohol carries 40 strokes.
Canings are not regulated properly, says Azharul Husna, the Aceh coordinator for Indonesian rights group Kontras, adding that the rules around such punishments should be “improved” to support people after they’re caned.
The officer from the Islamic police force was caned 23 times, as was his female partner, for being in close proximity in a private place.
He was caught alone with her in her house, Muhammad Rizal, the head of Aceh’s Islamic police force told BBC Indonesian, adding that the officer would be dismissed.
Aceh is the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia to enforce the Sharia, and punishes many of the offences with public canings.
Latest Stories
-
25 MDAs sign data-sharing pact with Ghana Statistical Service
53 seconds -
Legacy Girls’ College celebrates national recognition of two students at 2025 WASSCE
7 minutes -
Oil price jumps despite deal to release record amount of reserves
16 minutes -
Sahara Group commissions 40,000cbm Asharami Ghana LPG vessel to advance clean energy access in Ghana
23 minutes -
Ghana’s Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire marks 69th independence day with call to ‘build prosperity and restore hope’
25 minutes -
COCOBOD to distribute 27,000 sprayers and 89,000 PPE sets to cocoa farmers
34 minutes -
Ntim Fordjour accuses NDC of ‘double standards’ over presidential travel
40 minutes -
Israel–Iran war shakes global insurance industry; Ghana may face heavy impact – Dr Kingsley Agyemang
42 minutes -
DJ Mensah calls for national support for Rapperholic UK as Sarkodie eyes O2 Arena
45 minutes -
COCOBOD disburses GH¢4.2bn to Licensed Buying Companies to settle cocoa farmers’ arrears
47 minutes -
Rebecca Ekpe launches mentorship programme for young journalists and digital creators
48 minutes -
Home Support: How we can use Ghanaians living in the diaspora to form supporter groups for the 2026 World Cup and save millions
55 minutes -
NPP communicator, Senyo Amekplenu seeks audit service expenditure details under RTI
1 hour -
British man charged in Dubai for alleged filming of Iranian missiles
1 hour -
The mirage of president’s special initiatives – Mahama’s “Legacy Projects”, or another monuments of waste?
1 hour
