The crowd cheered as a young woman wailed in pain while she was caned Monday in Aceh, Indonesia. Aceh is the only province in the country that follows Sharia law and the woman was one of the latest to be punished for breaking strict local Islamic laws.
A total of 13 people - six women and seven men aged between 21 and 30 - were caned Monday in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, as an assembled crowd jeered.
Six couples were found guilty of breaking laws that ban 'intimacy' which means touching, hugging and kissing, between unmarried people.
The seventh man was publicly flogged for an offense described as 'spending time with a member of the opposite sex in a hidden location in a manner that could lead to adultery,' according to AFP.
A 22-year-old woman was also due for a caning but was given a temporary reprieve as she was pregnant. However, Aceh Deputy Mayor Zainal Arifin ensured the new mother would get her turn in time.
"The punishment will be handed down after she gives birth," promised Arifin.
Incidents of public caning are becoming more and more commonplace with special scrutiny falling on women in particular who are being increasingly flogged in Aceh, on Sumatra island.
Aceh started to implement Sharia law after obtaining special autonomy in 2001.
