Indonesian Sharia Officer Whips Gay Couple 80 Times In Public
The punishment was briefly halted and the men, both in their twenties, were allowed a drink of water before it continued. The men were arrested in November at a rental home where a landlord found them half-naked in their room.
Two men in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province were publicly caned each nearly 80 times after a landlord reported them to Islamic religious police for having sex.
According to an AP report, they were beaten for engaging in gay sex, which is outlawed in Aceh province under local Islamic law.
AP
The pair, who were not identified, winced in pain and pleaded for the whipping to stop, as a masked sharia officer beat their backs with a rattan stick.
The men, aged 27 and 29, were whipped across the back and winced with pain as a team of five enforcers wearing robes and hoods took turns, relieving one another after every 40 strokes.
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The men were arrested in November after the landlord became suspicious and broke into their rented room where they were caught having sex, said Heru Triwijanarko, Aceh's acting Sharia police chief.
Voice Of America/Image For Representation
A Shariah court last month sentenced each man to 80 strokes, but they were caned 77 times after a remission for time spent in prison.
Four other people received 17 strokes for extra-marital relations and 40 strokes for drinking alcohol.
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A Shariah code allows up to 100 lashes for morality offenses including gay sex. Caning is also punishment for adultery, gambling, drinking and for women who wear tight clothes and men who skip Friday prayers.
Human Rights Watch
With the exception of Aceh, homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but the country's low-profile LGBT community has been under siege in the past years. Human rights groups slam public caning as cruel, and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has called for it to end.
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The region started using religious law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001, an attempt by the central government to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.
