Young lovers wearing coronavirus masks are each whipped 100 times after being caught having sex outside marriage in violation of Sharia law in Indonesia
- An Indonesian couple was flogged 100 times each for having sex outside of marriage in the region Aceh
- The man’s whipping was paused when he could not bear the pain and someone else had to finish the woman’s
- Authorities said they took adequate coronavirus safety measures by taking temperatures and wearing masks
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
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A young Indonesian couple were whipped 100 times each for having sex without being married and violating the extremist Islamic law implemented in the region.
The two lovers were flogged in the province Aceh, the only Muslim-majority region in the country that imposes extreme Islamic law, with a rattan cane outside a mosque on the western tip of Sumatra.
The man’s flogging was paused briefly when he could not stand the pain and someone else had to finish lashing the woman.
A young couple who were caught having pre-marital sex in the Indonesian province Aceh were flogged 100 times each by local authorities. Pictured: The man wincing as he is flogged
The man’s whipping had to be paused because he could not take the pain and the woman’s punishment had to be finished by a different flogger Pictured: The man being wincing at being flogged
Usually large crowds of hundreds of people watch floggings but fewer people were there on Friday because of the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Not so many people came because today because they’ve seen it many times before – or they’re afraid of COVID-19,’ local resident Faisal said.
Local officials insisted they took adequate safety measures by checking the couple’s temperatures and wearing masks.
‘This young couple deserved a hundred lashes because they violated Islamic law,’ said Agus Kelana Putra, head of general crime division at the prosecutor’s office in Aceh Besar district.
A different man was also flogged 40 times for being caught in a hotel room with a girl but the underage girl was spared.
Aceh’s law, known locally as Qanun, allows for people to be flogged if they are charged with offences including gambling, adultery, drinking alcohol and sex with someone from the same gender. Pictured: The woman being escorted by authorities before receiving her lashes
Local authorities insisted they took adequate safety measures in light of the coronavirus pandemic by taking each other couple’s temperatures (pictured) and wearing masks
The law in Aceh, locally known as Qanun, allows authorities to whip people for charges including gambling, adultery, drinking alcohol and sex with someone from the same gender.
Aceh is able to enforce Qanun law because it has an autonomy deal that was made with the Indonesian government in 2005 that ended a decades-long separatist insurgency.
Human rights groups have slammed public caning as inhumane and cruel and Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, has called for it to end.