Two men publicly flogged in Indonesia for violating Sharia laws by hugging and kissing
Two men were publicly caned in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province after an Islamic Shariah court convicted them of violating the law by kissing and hugging, media reports said.
They were convicted of violating Islamic law for having a consensual same-sex relationship.
An audience of about 100 people witnessed the caning on a stage in Bustanussalatin city park in Banda Aceh on Tuesday, reported CBS News.
According to reports, the two men are aged 20 and 21.
They were beaten up on their backs with a rattan cane dozens of times by a group of people wearing robes and hoods.
Apart from them, eight others were also caned for performing adultery and gambling.
As per Amnesty International's website, citizen’s arrests are common in Aceh due to the implementation of Sharia law, which allows residents to turn people over to the Sharia police for investigation.
Aceh is the only province in Indonesia that criminalises consensual same-sex acts due to the special autonomy status that has allowed it to apply the Islamic Criminal Code since 2015.
Sharia bylaws have been in force in Aceh since the enactment of the province’s Special Autonomy Law in 2001 and are enforced by Islamic courts.
These laws in some cases provide for up to 200 lashes as punishment for offences including consensual intimacy or sexual activity for unmarried couples, consensual sex outside marriage, same-sex sexual relations, the consumption and sale of alcohol and gambling.
Responding to today’s caning of two men in the city of Banda Aceh for having consensual same-sex sexual relations, Amnesty International’s Regional Research Director Montse Ferrer said: "This public flogging of two young men under Aceh’s Islamic Criminal Code for consensual sex is a disturbing act of state-sanctioned discrimination and cruelty. This punishment is a horrifying reminder of the institutionalized stigma and abuse faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in Aceh."
“Intimate relationships between consenting adults should never be criminalized. Punishments such as flogging are cruel, inhuman and degrading and may amount to torture under international law," Ferrer said.
IBNS
Senior Staff Reporter at Northeast Herald, covering news from Tripura and Northeast India.
Related Articles
Canada to begin US trade talks in January, Canadian PM Carney says
Ottawa/IBNS: Canada will formally begin trade talks with the United States in January on renewing the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower to surpass Burj Khalifa, set to become world’s tallest building
The Jeddah Tower, set to become the world’s tallest building at over 1,000 meters, has reached nearly 80 floors since construction resumed in January 2025.
What is Chhayanaut—and why Islamists set it on fire in Dhaka amid protests over Hadi's death?
The premises of Chhayanaut, a prominent Bengali cultural organisation in Bangladesh, were vandalised and set ablaze in Dhaka early Friday following the death of anti-India political leader Sharif Osman Hadi, according to media reports.
No space for such violence: Yunus govt reacts over Hindu man's killing in Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s interim government on Friday condemned the lynching of a Hindu man accused of blasphemy amid a fresh wave of violence linked to ongoing nationwide protests following the killing of a student leader.
Latest News
Canada to begin US trade talks in January, Canadian PM Carney says
Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower to surpass Burj Khalifa, set to become world’s tallest building
Viral video of foreign tourists exploring New Delhi with a local auto rickshaw driver steals hearts!
Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa welcome their second child
