Crowd jeers as Indonesian Christians are flogged in public for playing sharia-banned child’s game
Pair were among five people – including a couple whipped two dozen times each for showing affection in public – who were lashed with a rattan stick
Two Indonesian Christians were publicly flogged in conservative Aceh province Tuesday for playing a children’s entertainment game seen as violating Islamic law, as hundreds of onlookers ridiculed them and took pictures.
The pair were among five people – including a couple whipped two dozen times each for showing affection in public – who were lashed with a rattan stick.
Aceh is the only province in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country that imposes sharia law and people can be flogged for a range of offences – from gambling, to drinking alcohol to having gay sex or relations outside marriage.
On Tuesday, Dahlan Silitonga, 61, and Tjia Nyuk Hwa, 45, were flogged six and seven times respectively after being arrested for playing a long-standing game at a children’s entertainment complex that lets users exchange coins for prizes or vouchers, including cash.
The pair were accused of gambling while another man Ridwan MR got 19 lashes for being involved in the game.
“This is to create a deterrent effect, in order for people not to repeat violations of Islamic sharia law,” Banda Aceh’s mayor Aminullah Usman said.