In Indonesia’s Aceh province on Thursday, a group of unmarried couples were whipped after they were caught holding hands, cuddling and in some cases, having sex. — a crime under the conservative region’s Islamic law.
Gambling, drinking alcohol and having gay sex is punishable in this part of the world. `It is the only province in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country that imposes Islamic law.
The five couples received between four and 22 strokes from a rattan cane outside a mosque in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh after they served several months in prison.
“We hope there will be no more cases like this — it’s embarrassing,” said religious officer Safriadi, who goes by one name.
Rights groups have slammed public caning as cruel, and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has called for it to end, but the practice has wide support among Aceh’s population.
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