In the Indonesian province of Aceh, a couple in love was sentenced to beating with sticks for hugging in a public place. It is reported by Channel News Asia.
An 18-year-old man and a girl were whipped in front of hundreds of people at the entrance to one of the mosques in the provincial center of Banda Aceh. They both received 17 blows. Together with them, a 35-year-old man was publicly flogged. He and another convict - a 40-year-old woman - were guilty by showing feelings in a grocery store. However, doctors postponed the execution of punishment for her for health reasons.
All four convicts spent several months in prison before the sentences were brought into effect, the newspaper notes.
In December 2018, in Aceh, six people were sentenced to public caning for playing at an online casino. In September, two women who were caught trying to have sex in a car were punished in this way.
Sharia law in the Muslim province prohibits any expression of intimacy between unmarried people. Public caning is a standard punishment in Aceh, for gambling, alcohol consumption, homosexual and extramarital affairs.