Three couples were publicly flogged in Indonesia’s Aceh on Thursday, after being charged with breaking a local law that outlaws public displays, GulfNews reports.
Indonesia’s Aceh
Aceh is the only region in Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country, that enforces Islamic laws.
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According to Gulf News on Thursday, a masked officer rained down between 20 and 22 strokes from a rattan cane each on three men and three women caught behaving ‘amorously’. They had all served several months in prison.
One of the women winced and fell over from the painful punishment.
A lot of onlookers witnessed this act including some visiting Malaysian students, watched the spectacle. “I’m nervous because this is the first time I’ve seen something like this,” said visitor Muhammad Rushdy, according to News 18
“But it can serve as an important lesson for us from other countries to comply with local regulations,” he added.
Banda Aceh’s mayor Aminullah Usman repeated his long-held claim that the punishment is a deterrent.
“But we keep telling visitors not to be afraid to visit Banda Aceh… because you won’t be flogged if you don’t break the law,” he said.
Although public canning has been widely condemned in Indonesia, the practice, however, subsist among Aceh’s population.
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