Four individuals received 100 lashes each for adultery on Thursday in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia's deeply conservative Aceh province. The punishments were administered publicly at Bustanul Salatin Park as part of 11 instances of caning for violations of the province's Qanun Jinayat Islamic criminal code.
One instance involved a woman enduring repeated blows while kneeling, during which the caner, known as an 'algojo,' appeared to offer words of support. Other images from the event show the woman receiving comfort and water from an official after the punishment and a male convict grimacing in pain.
Aceh is the sole province in Indonesia permitted to enforce Sharia law, which includes caning as a penalty for a range of offenses. These offenses include gambling, alcohol consumption, same-sex relationships, and extramarital sexual relations, with zina, or illicit sexual intercourse, being one of the charges for which the four individuals were sentenced.
The province's Islamic criminal code also mandates severe penalties for crimes such as child rape, which can result in up to 200 lashes, a lengthy prison sentence, or a substantial fine. The public nature of the canings is intended to shame offenders.
In July, a woman became the first person in Aceh to be publicly caned for live-streaming intimacy. She and her partner were accused of kissing during a TikTok livestream, a violation of Aceh's strict interpretation of Sharia law. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly condemned the practice of caning, stating it violates Indonesia's constitution and international legal obligations. They argue that public humiliation inflicts lasting psychological damage and that corporal punishment has no place in a humane society.
Other recent punishments in Aceh include a couple receiving 27 lashes for physical intimacy and two men being caned for gambling. In May, two men and two women were flogged 100 times for sex outside marriage, alongside others punished for offenses like proximity to the opposite sex and alcohol consumption. 
