They had sex before marriage. They were flogged 140 times

A man and a woman were flogged 140 times after being convicted of having sex outside of marriage by an Islamic court in the conservative western Indonesian province of Aceh.

The man and woman, whose ages were not specified, received 140 lashes on the back with a stick: 100 for having sexual relations outside of marriage and 40 for consuming alcohol.

A woman fainted after being whipped and was taken to hospital by an ambulance.

The information was released this Thursday by the head of the ‘sharia’ (Islamic law) police in Banda Aceh, Muhammad Rizalcited by the French news agency AFP.

This is one of more severe sentences handed down since Islamic law was implemented in the province in 2001.

Four other people were publicly flogged, including a police officer and his partner, also convicted of having sexual relations outside of marriage. Each of them received 23 lashes.

“As promised, we make no exceptionsespecially for our own members. This would certainly tarnish our reputation,” said Muhammad Rizal.

As sexual relations between single people are prohibited in this ultra-conservative province, the only one in the Muslim-majority country to impose sharia law.

Indonesia banned extramarital sex in the most recent version of the Penal Code, approved in 2022 and which came into force across the country at the beginning of this month.

Human rights organizations condemn public floggings, but the practice enjoys strong support among the population.

Aceh province began implementing sharia law after gaining autonomy in 2001 as part of a central government effort to contain a long-running separatist insurgency.

Corporal punishment with rods is meted out for “various offences” in Aceh, including jogo, alcohol consumption, homosexual relationsin addition to extramarital sex.

Last year, two men were publicly flogged 76 times each after being convicted of sexual relations by an Islamic court.