BANDA ACEH, (Indonesia): Officials in Indonesia's staunchly Islamic Aceh province publicly caned two women and two men 100 strokes each for engaging in sex outside of marriage, an AFP reporter witnessed.
The four, whose ages were not disclosed, were caned in a public park in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, with dozens gathered to watch.
Some in the crowd, which included children, shouted "harder" as the cane came down repeatedly.
Four other people received 22 lashes each at Thursday's (Aug 20) flogging for the lesser crime of "physical intimacy", which can mean hugging and kissing.
Two others received seven lashes each for getting too close to one another -- which can include holding hands -- while a man was flogged 20 times for consuming alcohol.
These are all crimes in Aceh, Indonesia's only province to apply a version of Sharia Islamic law in force there since 2002, and made more strict in 2015.
Caning, though not a legal form of punishment in the Southeast Asian nation, retains strong support in Aceh to punish a range of offences, including gambling and gay sex.
Aceh enjoys a special autonomy granted under a 2005 peace deal to end a 30-year separatist insurgency in the province.
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority country, but officially recognises six religions as well as indigenous beliefs. - AFP
