A young Indonesian couple has been publicly caned in the conservative Aceh province after a Sharia court convicted them of violating Islamic law by kissing during a TikTok livestream. The 22-year-old man and 25-year-old woman were ordered to be whipped with a rattan cane 21 times each for the offense. The caning was carried out in front of at least 100 people in Bustanussalatin City Park in Banda Aceh.
The couple was arrested in April after their livestream from February 27 went viral and prompted reports to local sharia authorities. Aceh is the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia that enforces a version of Islamic law. The province was granted the right to implement religious law in 2006 as part of a peace deal to end a separatist war.
In 2015, the law was expanded to apply to non-Muslims, who account for about 1% of the province’s population. The law allows for up to 100 lashes for morality offenses, including adultery and gay sex. Caning is also used to punish people for gambling and drinking, as well as for women who wear tight clothes or men who skip Friday prayers.
The couple was originally sentenced to 25 lashes each, but this was reduced to 21 due to the four months they had already spent in prison. The court also seized a mobile phone and a USB flash drive containing the TikTok live video as evidence to be destroyed. Four other people were also publicly caned on the same day for online gambling and adultery.
Amnesty International Indonesia has condemned the public caning, calling it a human rights violation that is cruel, inhumane, and degrading to human dignity. The organization’s executive director, Usman Hamid, stated that while the couple’s behavior may have been considered inappropriate, it did not warrant imprisonment or caning. ‘Such behavior might be considered inappropriate because social media is viewed by people of various age groups, including children. But is it a crime that warrants imprisonment or even caning?
That would be excessive,’ he said.
