Woman Lashed 140 Times Under Sharia Law in Indonesia’s Aceh Province

Jakarta: In a stark enforcement of Sharia law, a woman in Indonesia’s Aceh province was publicly lashed 140 times for allegedly consuming alcohol and having a relationship outside marriage. Aceh, Indonesia’s only province with special autonomy under a 2001 law, implements Islamic Sharia alongside the national legal system.

According to reports by AFP, both a man and a woman were punished in a public park before dozens of onlookers. The woman reportedly fainted after the punishment and was rushed to a hospital by ambulance. Muhammad Rizal, head of Aceh’s Sharia police, confirmed that the pair received 140 lashes in total—100 for having extramarital relations and 40 for alcohol consumption.

Aceh province is known for imposing some of the harshest Sharia punishments in Indonesia. The couple punished on this occasion was among six individuals disciplined for violating Islamic law, including a Sharia police officer and his partner, caught in a private location in compromising circumstances. Each of them received 23 lashes.

Rizal told AFP, “As promised, we give no exceptions, especially to our own members. Any leniency would surely tarnish our credibility.”

Sharia law in Aceh prescribes corporal punishment for a range of offenses, including gambling, alcohol consumption, homosexual relations, and extramarital sexual activity. Last year, two men were publicly lashed 76 times each after being convicted of having extramarital relations.

This incident has once again drawn international attention to Indonesia’s strict Sharia implementation in Aceh and the human rights debates surrounding corporal punishment.