Two men in Indonesia have been flogged in public for indulging in gay sex, considered to be a crime as per local laws. Each of them received nearly 80 lashes each in the conservative Aceh province, the country’s only region where Sharia (Islamic law) is in force.
As the two men, in their late twenties, pleaded for the caning to stop, the punishment was briefly halted and the offenders were allowed to drink water before masked law enforcers went on to complete the sentence. The duo was arrested at a rented accommodation in November after the landlord complained.
Flogging in public is quite common in Aceh for offences such as gay sex, adultery, gambling and drinking alcohol. The province began implementing the Islamic law two decades ago after it was granted autonomy, a move by the federal government to end insurgency.
