A young couple in Indonesia's Aceh province were publicly flogged 21 times each after sharing a kiss during a TikTok livestream, violating the region's strict Sharia morality laws. The punishment took place on a stage in Bustanussalatin City Park in Banda Aceh, with hooded officials using rattan canes. Around 100 people gathered to watch.
Arrest and Sentencing
The couple, a 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, were arrested in April after footage from a TikTok livestream filmed inside a car on February 27 went viral. The video showed them kissing, prompting complaints to Aceh's religious police, according to the Guardian. Originally sentenced to 25 lashes each, the punishment was reduced to 21 because they had already spent four months in custody awaiting trial. Judges also ordered the confiscation and destruction of a mobile phone and USB drive containing the footage.
Aceh's Sharia Law
Aceh is the only province in Indonesia that enforces Sharia law. Under its legal system, unmarried couples can be punished for intimate behaviour, while offences including adultery, gambling, drinking alcohol, and same-sex relationships can carry public caning sentences. Four other people were publicly caned on the same day for online gambling and adultery.
International Condemnation
Amnesty International’s Co-Regional Director Montse Ferrer condemned the caning, calling it a “horrifying act of discrimination” and a reminder of human rights violations under Aceh's Islamic Criminal Code. She stated: “The punishment shows how authorities are expanding their use of Sharia law to target peaceful expression online, as well as offline. Caning is an inherently cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment that frequently crosses the threshold into torture. Indonesia’s authorities must end the criminalization of consensual intimacy and repeal all discriminatory bylaws that permit corporal punishment.”
Previous Incidents
This incident follows a more brutal lashing last month, where a woman fainted after she and her partner received 100 lashes for premarital sex in Banda Aceh. Caning is used for various offences, including gambling, alcohol consumption, homosexual acts, and extramarital sex.
