BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Indonesia’s deeply conservative Aceh province on Friday caned several unmarried couples for showing affection in public and two women for prostitution before an enthusiastic audience of hundreds.
The canings were possibly the last to be done before large crowds in Aceh after the province’s governor announced earlier this month that the punishments would be moved indoors.
The caning last year of two men for gay sex before a baying mob drew international attention to Aceh’s increasingly harsh implementation of Shariah law and a wave of condemnation.
The women accused of prostitution were caned 11 times each. One of the women held up her hand after the fifth lash, signaling the pain was too intense. She was given a drink and the strokes resumed despite her discomfort.