Banda Aceh, Indonesia – Two men from the conservative Aceh province in Indonesia were publicly flogged 77 times each Thursday, after neighbors reported them to the Islamic religious police for having sex. Dozens of people witnessed the beating at Tamansari city park in Banda Aceh.
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It is the third time that Aceh, the only province in Indonesia that practices sharia law, has people mistreated by homosexuality since Islamic law was implemented in 2015 as a government concession to end a long-standing separatist rebellion.
The men, aged 27 to 29, were whipped on the back and shivered in pain as a team of five executioners wearing tunics and hoods took turns, relieving each other every 40 strokes.
CHAIDE MAHYUDDIN / AFP / Getty
The men were arrested in November after residents suspected and broke into their rented room, where they were caught having sex, said Heru Triwijanarko, acting Sharia police chief in Aceh.
A Shariah court last month sentenced each man to 80 strokes, but they were punished 77 times after being sentenced for his time in prison.
Four other people received 17 strokes for extramarital affairs and 40 for drinking alcohol.
A Shariah code allows up to 100 lashes for moral crimes, including gay sex. Caning is also punishment for adultery, gambling, drinking and for women who wear tight clothes and men who skip Friday prayers.
With the exception of Aceh, homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but the country’s discreet LGBT community has been under siege in recent years.