A young couple in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province were publicly caned Thursday after a Sharia court convicted them of violating Islamic law for kissing during a TikTok livestream.
The court ordered the 22-year-old man and 25-year-old woman to receive 21 lashes each with a rattan cane because they kissed while unmarried. The punishment was carried out on a stage in Bustanussalatin city park in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, in front of at least 100 people. The caning was administered by a group wearing robes and head coverings.
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Indonesian couple publicly caned for kissing on TikTok livestream
(Photo: AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
The couple were arrested in April after a TikTok livestream recorded on February 27, showing them kissing in a car in Banda Aceh, went viral. After the video spread online, complaints were filed with local Sharia authorities, leading to their arrest and prosecution.
They were initially sentenced to 25 lashes each, but the punishment was reduced to 21 because they had already spent four months in jail. The court also ordered the confiscation of a mobile phone and USB drive containing the TikTok livestream video, which were treated as evidence to be destroyed.
Aceh is the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia that enforces a version of Islamic law. The secular central government granted the province the right to implement religious law in 2006 as part of a peace agreement aimed at ending a separatist war. In 2015, the law was expanded to apply also to non-Muslims, who make up about 1% of the province’s population.
(Photo: AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
(Photo: CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN / AFP)
(Photo: AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
(Photo: AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
The law allows sentences of up to 100 lashes for “morality offenses,” including adultery and sex between men. Caning is also used as punishment for gambling and drinking alcohol, as well as for women who wear tight clothing or men who skip Friday prayers. Four other people convicted of online gambling and adultery were also publicly caned Thursday.
Amnesty International Indonesia condemned the public caning, calling it a human rights violation and a “cruel, inhuman and degrading” punishment that violates human dignity. The group said the punishment was carried out even though Indonesia has ratified a convention requiring the abolition of inhuman punishments.
(Photo: CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN / AFP)
(Photo: AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
“Such behavior may be considered inappropriate because social media is viewed by people from different age groups, including children,” Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said. “But is it an offense that justifies imprisonment or even caning? That is excessive.”
Ayni Nadira, a 22-year-old Banda Aceh resident who attended the caning, said she supported the punishment.
“In my opinion, this caning is completely justified because it serves as a warning to other residents in Aceh to be more careful in using social media,” she said. “It also raises awareness that such acts are unacceptable, and in that way educates the public.”