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Indonesian woman caned after adultery conviction in Aceh sharia court
ABC News - September 12, 2017
The 30-year-old woman, Mazidah, who goes by one name, had received the caning after being found guilty of adultery by a sharia court. She had been charged with being in a private place in the presence of a man she was not married to.
The public caning of the pair and a third offender, a man accused of indecent behaviour against a minor, took place in the city of Lhokseumawe south-east of the capital Banda Aceh.
Strict sharia law is in place across Aceh, but it is the first time a flogging has taken place in the city since 2006.
Thousands of residents, including children, are reported to have watched on as the punishment was delivered to the offenders on a stage outside the city's grand mosque after Friday prayers last week.
According to reports by the local press, and an account given to the ABC by a witness, at times the caning had to be stopped for each of the three offenders because they were screaming in agony.
Public canings on the rise
In May, the public caning of two gay men gained world-wide attention in what human rights groups described as a new low.
Vigilantes had found the men having sex after entering a private apartment room and reported them to authorities. The men in the 20s each received more than 80 lashes of the cane outside a mosque in Banda Aceh.
The Jakarta-based Institute of Criminal Justice Reform has found the number of public canings in ultra-conservative Aceh has been increasing with 339 known cases last year alone.
Human Rights Watch has demanded the Indonesian Government remove sharia law in Aceh, arguing it is in breach of United Nations rights conventions.
Under sharia law, which is not in place anywhere else across the Indonesian archipelago, drinking alcohol, gambling, adultery, homosexuality and displays of affection outside of marriage are among listed crimes.
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