They were subjected to the punishment under the autonomous region's version of Sharia.

17:09, Thu, Jan 29, 2026 Updated: 17:10, Thu, Jan 29, 2026

Masked man brandishes cane next to kneeling woman

A woman and a man were accused of having sex outside marriage (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

A couple were caned 140 times for having sex outside their marriage and drinking alcohol. The lashings occured in public in a park in Indonesia's Aceh province. Dozens watched on as the man and woman were hit with a rattan stick over and over again. The area is the only place in the country where sex outside marriage is outlawed as part of its version of Sharia. The woman fainted after being struck.

A hundred of the canings were for sex outside marriage, and 40 of them were for consuming alcohol, the head of Banda Aceh's Sharia police, Muhammad Rizal, said. Photos of the spectacle show the woman kneeling down as a masked man hits her. One of the images showed her wiping away tears, while another one was of her being stretchered away.

In a separate group of pictures, her partner looks to be in significant pain.

A woman covers her face as she is caned

A man and a woman were publicly caned (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

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This is thought to have been the highest numbers of cane lashes carried out at one time since Sharia was implemented in the region after it became autonomous in 2001.

Four other people were flogged, including a sharia police officer and his female partner after they were spotted close together somewhere private, The Mail reported.

Amnesty said in a statement: "Caning contravenes Indonesia's Constitution and is in clear violation of international human rights law and standards. 

"It constitutes a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and can amount to torture in violation of the UN Convention against Torture and other international covenants, to which Indonesia is a State Party."

Woman cradled by other women after fainting

A former Governor of the region insisted Sharia is based on peace (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

The then Governor of Aceh, Zaini Abdullah, said in 2015: "Sharia Law is derived from religious teachings of Al-Qur'an and Sunnah.

"It contains the teachings of Islam that deal with man's relationship with God, relationships with fellow Human-Beings and human relationships with the Natural World."

They added: "The main substance of the Sharia Law is Peace. Islam is to bring Peace and Welfare to the entire Universe (Rahmatan lil ' Alamin). Muslims believe that the teachings of Islam would attain Salvation and Happiness in the World and the Here-after.