Female Convict Collapses As Caned Couple Receive 140 Lashes Each for Sex Outside Marriage, Alcohol Use
The Indonesian Government has caned a man and a woman 140 times each for engaging in sexual relations outside marriage and consuming alcohol. This is believed to be one of the harshest corporal punishments carried out in the deeply conservative region since the adoption of Islamic law. The punishment was administered on Thursday, January 29 in a public park in Banda Aceh, where dozens of residents gathered to witness the flogging, according to an AFP reporter at the scene. Aceh remains the only province in Indonesia that enforces a version of syariah (Islamic law), under which sexual relations between unmarried couples are strictly prohibited, alongside bans on alcohol consumption and other activities deemed immoral. The male and female convicts were repeatedly struck on their backs with a rattan cane. During the ordeal, the woman reportedly fainted and had to be taken away in an ambulance. Confirming the punishment, the head of Banda Aceh’s syariah police, Muhammad Rizal, said each of the two convicts received 100 lashes for sex outside marriage and an additional 40 lashes for consuming alcohol. Observers say the 140 lashes imposed on each individual rank among the highest number of cane strokes ever handed down since Aceh was granted special autonomy in 2001, paving the way for the formal implementation of Islamic law. The two were part of a group of six people flogged on the same day for violating the Islamic code. Among them was a syariah police officer and his female partner, who were arrested after being found together in close proximity inside a private location. This was not the first time the Indonesian Government had caned sexual offenders. In August 2025, two young men, aged 20 and 21, were publicly flogged 76 times each in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia’s Aceh province, after being convicted of engaging in consensual same-sex relations. The punishment was carried out on August 26 following a ruling by a panel of judges at the Banda Aceh Sharia Court, which found the men guilty of violating the province’s Islamic Criminal Code that criminalises consensual same-sex acts. The pair were arrested on June 16, 2025 after they were allegedly caught engaging in sexual activity inside a public restroom at Taman Sari Park. Court documents identified the defendants as QH and RA. They remained in detention throughout the trial, which was conducted behind closed doors. Citizen-led arrests are common in Aceh due to the enforcement of Sharia law, which permits members of the public to hand over suspected offenders to the Sharia police for investigation. Aceh is the only province in Indonesia where consensual same-sex relations are criminalised, a situation made possible by its special autonomy status, which has allowed the formal application of the Islamic Criminal Code since 2015. Sharia-based bylaws have been in force in the province since the passage of Aceh’s Special Autonomy Law in 2001 and are enforced through Islamic courts. Under these laws, offenders can receive up to 200 lashes for a wide range of acts deemed immoral, including consensual intimacy or sexual activity between unmarried couples, sex outside marriage, same-sex relations, alcohol consumption and sale, and gambling. In February 2025, two university students were similarly flogged in Banda Aceh for engaging in consensual same-sex relations.
