Public Caning in Indonesia: Four People Receive 100 Lashes Under Aceh’s Sharia Law

A caning sentence being carried out in Banda Aceh, Voice of America, Public domain | Jihad Watch

Four people were each sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery under Sharia law in Indonesia’s Aceh province, during a public caning that drew widespread attention for its severity. The punishment took place on Thursday at Bustanul Salatin Park in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, where 11 individuals were publicly flogged after being convicted under Aceh’s Islamic criminal code, known as the Qanun Jinayat.

The four were found guilty of zina, a term used in Islamic law to describe illicit sexual intercourse. As the punishment was carried out before a large crowd, including children, some spectators reportedly shouted “harder” while the cane repeatedly struck the convicted individuals.

Images from the event showed one woman kneeling on a raised platform as she endured the lashes in front of officials and onlookers. During the punishment, the algojo—the official responsible for carrying out the caning—was seen leaning toward her and appeared to offer words of encouragement or support. After the flogging ended, she was visibly emotional and was comforted by an official while being given water.

Footage from the same event also showed a male convict grimacing in pain as he received repeated blows to his back. The public punishment highlighted Aceh’s continued enforcement of corporal penalties under its autonomous implementation of Sharia law.

In total, 11 people were caned during Thursday’s ceremony. Besides the four convicted of adultery, another four individuals received 22 lashes each after being found guilty of “physical intimacy,” an offense that can include acts such as hugging and kissing outside marriage under Aceh’s Islamic regulations.

(This Article was originally published by Jihad Watch)