A man and a woman passed out while receiving public floggings during separate punishments for violating strict Islamic laws in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Dec. 5
The 22-year-old man, found guilty of having extramarital sex, was beaten unconscious while receiving 100 strokes of the cane in front of hundreds of spectators in East Aceh regency.
The beating continued after he was revived and only had medical treatment at a hospital after the punishment had ended, AFP reported.
On the same day, a woman was beaten unconscious while having 30 strokes in Aceh Tamiang regency for allegedly being in the company of a man who was “not her male guardian.”
Her punishment could be resumed at a later date, when she is considered healthy enough to be flogged, reports said.
She was one of 33 people being caned in the regency that day.
Rights group, Amnesty International, called the punishments shameful and vicious public spectacles.
“The fact that two people were beaten unconscious … in two separate incidents, is a damning indictment of the authorities who let his happen on their watch,” said Usman Hamid, Amnesty International Indonesia’s executive director.
“No-one deserves to face this unspeakable cruelty,” he said.
Aceh is the only region in Muslim-majority Indonesia that implements Sharia following the enactment of the Special Autonomy Law in 2001, and canings have been carried out regularly since the strict laws were fully enforced in 2015.
As well as adultery, other crimes which can result in up to 200 strokes of the cane, include consensual sex outside marriage, gambling and homosexuality.
Punishments are carried out in public regularly and attract large crowds who take photos and videos of the floggings.
