The men, aged 27 and 29, were whipped by five enforcers wearing hoods as onlookers filmed on their phones
Two men have been caned in Indonesia's Aceh region after neighbours reported them for having gay sex.
The punishment took place today [Thursday 28 January 2021] in Tamansari city park in the city of Banda Aceh with dozens of people watching and filming on their mobile devices (see video below).
Homosexuality is illegal in the semi-autonomous province under Shariah law, and caning of up to 100 lashes has been used as punishment since 2015.
The men, aged 27 and 29, were whipped by five enforcers wearing robes and hoods, reports ABC News.
According to the outlet, Heru Triwijanarko, Aceh's acting Sharia police chief said the men were arrested in November after neighbours became suspicious and broke into their room while they were having sex.
"Islamic sharia enforcement is final"
Speaking to AFP, Triwijanarko said: "Islamic Sharia enforcement is final, no matter who it is, and even visitors must respect local norms."
Video and images of the caning show the men wincing in pain and begging for mercy.
According to local media, one of the men was caned so hard that a stick shattered before being immediately replaced, while the mother of one of the victims fainted.
Homosexuality is legal in Indonesia – except for Aceh – although LGBTQ people are still subjected to violence and legal inequalities throughout the country.
Indonesian couple whipped in Aceh for having gay sex
The two men were whipped nearly 80 times each for having gay sex, which is outlawed in Aceh province under local Islamic law.
The pair, who were not identified, winced in pain and pleaded for the whipping to stop, as a masked Syariah officer beat their backs with a rattan stick.
The punishment was briefly halted and the men, both in their twenties, were allowed a drink of water before it continued.
The mother of one man fainted at the sight of her son being whipped.
"Islamic Syariah enforcement is final, no matter who it is, and even visitors must respect local norms," public order official Heru Triwijanarko told AFP.
The men were arrested in November at a rental home where a landlord found them half-naked in their room.
Gay sex is not illegal elsewhere in Indonesia and Aceh is the only region in the world's biggest Muslim nation that imposes the Syariah law.
In Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, public flogging is a common punishment for a range of offences that include gambling, drinking alcohol and adultery.
Four others were whipped between 17 and 40 times on the same day over allegations they drank alcohol or met with members of the opposite sex.
Human rights groups slam public caning as cruel, and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has called for it to end.
But it has strong support among Aceh's population.
The region started using religious law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001, an attempt by the central government to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.
Source: Agence France-Presse, Staff, January 28, 2021
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
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