Indonesian woman receives 140 lashes under Sharia Law for sex outside marriage, alcohol use

An Indonesian woman is caned in front of a crowd of onlookers. (Reuters file image used for representation.)

A man and woman in Aceh, Indonesia, were publicly caned 140 times for sex outside marriage and drinking alcohol, among the harshest punishments since sharia law began there. Six people were punished in total, drawing criticism from human rights groups.

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Sharia police in Indonesia’s Aceh province publicly caned a man and a woman for having sex outside marriage and consuming alcohol, handing down one of the harshest punishments seen in the region in recent years.

The couple received a total of 140 lashes, with 100 for engaging in sexual relations outside marriage and 40 for drinking alcohol. The punishment was carried out in a public park in Banda Aceh, where dozens of people gathered to watch, AFP reported. The woman fainted during the punishment and was later taken to an ambulance.

“The couple was struck on their backs with a rattan stick,” AFP said, citing local authorities. Banda Aceh Sharia police chief Muhammad Rizal told AFP that the punishment followed the provincial Islamic code, which strictly bans sexual relations between unmarried couples.

Aceh is the only province in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, that enforces sharia law. The system was introduced after Aceh was granted special autonomy in 2001, allowing it to apply Islamic law alongside Indonesia’s national legal framework.

Officials believe the sentence is among the highest number of lashes imposed since sharia law came into force in the province. In total, six people were punished during the same public caning session. This included a sharia police officer and his female partner, who were found together in a private place. That couple received 23 lashes each.

Under Aceh’s sharia regulations, caning is used as punishment for a range of offences, including gambling, alcohol consumption, sexual relations outside marriage, and same-sex relations. The punishments are carried out under provincial authority as part of the special autonomy agreement with Indonesia’s central government.

Similar cases have occurred in recent years. In 2025, two men were publicly flogged 76 times each after being convicted by a sharia court for sexual relations.

Aceh’s strict enforcement of Islamic law has repeatedly drawn criticism from international human rights groups. Indonesian authorities, however, continue to argue that the province is acting within the legal powers granted to it under its autonomous status.