Beaten until she can barely stand: Woman has to be helped to her feet after she is lashed with a cane for 'public display of affection' under Sharia law
A woman had to be helped to her feet after being beaten with a cane for public display of affection under Sharia law in Indonesia's Aceh province.
The unnamed woman was among six people subjected to public flogging on Thursday in Aceh, the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia to administer Islamic law. Images showed her dressed in white on her knees and grimacing in pain as she was lashed by a hooded 'alogojo', or flogger, before being helped off the ground.
Four people were punished for engaging in intimate public displays of affection, while another two were flogged for gambling. The number of lashes administered ranged from nine to 22, with one man receiving 22 lashes for public affection and another getting nine for gambling.
Sharia punishments
Under Sharia law in Aceh, the mixing of unrelated men and women is strictly forbidden. Caning is used to punish a wide range of offenses, including gambling, drinking alcohol, homosexual acts, and having sexual relations outside of marriage.
Caning contravenes Indonesia's constitution and is in clear violation of international human rights law and standards. It constitutes a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and can amount to torture in violation of the UN Convention against Torture.
Public humiliation
Canings in Aceh are often staged outside mosques or in community squares, with crowds watching and documenting the event on their mobile phones. Human rights groups say the humiliation adds to the cruelty and causes lasting psychological damage.
Local officials have defended the practice as a deterrent and as part of the province's identity, while critics warn it has negatively impacted Indonesia's human rights reputation and inflicted lasting trauma on those who endure it.
Previous severe cases
The incident comes just months after a couple was subjected to one of the worst sentences of caning the province's authorities have administered. The couple received 100 lashes in September after being convicted of adultery, with the woman collapsing from the pain.
According to local news outlet AJNN, the man's caning was halted temporarily after he received 60 lashes over concerns for his health. Earlier this year, a woman became the first person to be publicly caned in Aceh for 'committing obscenity live with a man on social media.'
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