Banda Aceh, Indonesia – There were two men from the conservative province of Aceh in Indonesia collapsed in public 77 times every Thursday, after neighbors reported them to the Islamic religious police for sexual intercourse. Dozens of people witnessed the strike at Tamansari Park in Banda Aceh.
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This is the third time that Aceh, the only province in Indonesia that practices Shariah law, has it people with sticks for homosexuality since Islamic law was enacted in 2015 as a concession made by the government to end a long-running separatist rebellion.
The men, aged 27 and 29, were whipped on their backs and shuddered in pain, while a team of five men wearing gowns and hoods rotated in turn, relieving each other after each of blows.
CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN / AFP / Getty
The men were arrested in November after residents became suspicious and entered the rented room where they were caught having sex, said Heru Triwijanarko, Aceh’s Sharia police chief.
Last month, a Shariah court sentenced each man to 80 strokes, but they were convicted 77 times after a remission for time spent in prison.
Four other people received 17 strokes for extramarital affairs and 40 strokes for alcohol consumption.
A Shariah code allows up to 100 genes for moral crimes, including homosexual sex. The baton is also a punishment for adultery, gambling, drinking and for women wearing tight clothes and for men skipping Friday prayers.
Except for Aceh, homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but the country’s low-profile LGBT community has been besieged in recent years.