Couple publicly whipped after they were found ‘guilty’ of having gay sex
The unnamed men were dressed in white and flogged 80 times each
By Steve Brown
A couple have been publicly flogged in Indonesia’s Aceh province after they were found ‘guilty’ of having sex.
The two men were whipped more than 80 times each in front of a crowd of 1,000 bystanders after they were apprehended by a homophobic vigilante mob earlier in the year, the MailOnline reported.
The unnamed men were among 15 people whipped outside a mosque in the Muslim province’s capital Banda Aceh, which also saw a young woman caned for selling alcohol.
Both the woman and the gay couple were dressed in white and led up to a platform while a masked ‘executioner’ whipped them with rattan canes on their backs.
The crowd jeered and shouted for them to be ‘flogged harder’ as they were being beaten.
Although elsewhere in Indonesia, gay sex is not illegal but in Aceh imposes the Islamic law and the two men were the second gay couple to be publicly flogged this year.
The men were apprehended by a vigilante mob while at a beauty salon and were handed over to the police.
They were found guilty of having homosexual intercourse after a court established they were in a relationship.
Public flogging is a common punishment for a number of offences including gambling, drinking alcohol and having gay sex or relations outside of marriage.
Banda Aceh official Tarmizi Yahya said: “Hopefully the flogging we’re witnessing today will serve as a lesson for people not to violate sharia [Islamic law].”