Shocking moment four couples in Indonesia are dragged into busy square and whipped ‘for having sex outside marriage’
Four couples from the Banda Aceh province were accused of violating Sharia Law for 'having sex before marriage'
THESE harrowing images show the moment four couples being whipped up to 25 times in public for "having sex outside marriage".
The brutal punishment is administered by a veiled man wielding the stick as the accused wince in pain.
Snaps reveal the full brutality of the acts administered outside in the Banda Aceh region of Indonesia.
It remains Indonesia’s only province to enforce Sharia law – and the results for its victims are scarring.
A young woman is pictured being hauled to the stage by other veiled police women.
Kneeling on the stage, one woman is pictured closing her eyes as she prepares for the crack of the first cane stroke.
A baying crowd watch on to see the punishment meted out upon the couple - accused of becoming too close in public despite being unmarried.
Her alleged lover also faced the same brutal punishment.
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The offence, called khalwat, is common in Banda Aceh, just one region of the world’s most populous Islamic nation.
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Muslims make up the overwhelming majority of Aceh, with over 98 per cent of the province’s population of four million identifying as Muslims.
The province only began to implement Sharia law in 2001, but has since outlawed numerous activities.
Drinking alcohol, sex before marriage, gambling and homosexuality are all punishable by public lashings.
Women are even forbidden to stay in an entertainment venue after 11pm unless they are with a male relative.
Banda Aceh lies on the western tip of Sumatra and is home to nearly five million Indonesians.
The province was hit badly by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami – which is estimated to have killed more than 150,000.
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