Unmarried couples brutally whipped in public just for cuddling, holding hands and having sex in Indonesia
A mob of hundreds - including young children - watched as the masked 'religious officer' lashed the offenders until they winced in pain
UNMARRIED couples were brutally whipped in public today after being caught cuddling, holding hands and having sex.
Hardline clerics in Indonesia oversaw the sickening floggings of those deemed to have breached local religious laws.
Five couples received up to 22 strokes each outside a mosque in Banda Aceh - after already serving months inside prison.
The punishments were meted out by a masked 'religious officer' - in front of a crowd containing kids - using a rattan cane
Religious police had allegedly caught them cuddling , holding hands or, in some cases, having sex outside marriage.
All are deemed very serious crimes under the ultra-conservative Aceh region's archaic Islamic laws.
It is the only province in Indonesia - which has the world's biggest Muslim-majority country - that imposes the beatings.
The head of the local public order agency said he hoped those publicly punished had learned their lesson.
Marwan said: “This law is designed to have a deterrent effect, not only for the offenders but for the spectators who watch the caning.
“The pain of being flogged is not that bad, the embarrassment is worse."
Human rights groups have dubbed the public canings barbaric, while Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has called for them to stop.
But the practice - based on a strict regional interpretation of Sharia- has wide support among Aceh's five million Muslims.
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In November a woman was caned for allegedly having sex outside marriage in the region while cheering crowds looked on.
The same thing had happened in September, as another woman was lead on stage to be publicly whipped.
In December, two men caught having sex with underage girls. For this were whipped 100 times each.
