Indonesia’s Aceh hires female floggers to whip women for premarital sex, cuddling in public

More women in Aceh, a conservative region on Sumatra island, are being charged under sharia law for morality crimes such as cuddling in public or premarital sex

This has prompted the region to recruit more female enforcement officers to punish offenders

Reading Time:4 minutes

A female flogger whips an unmarried woman who was caught with a man in a hotel, on December 10, 2019, in Banda Aceh. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:15pm, 28 Jan 2020Updated: 9:15am, 29 Jan 2020

The masked woman nervously approaches her target, shuffles into position and then unleashes a flurry of lashes – proving herself as the newest member of the first female whipping squad in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

The new recruit initially needed some coaxing to punish the offender – an unmarried woman caught in a hotel room with a man.

Such behaviour constitutes a morality crime in Aceh, the only region in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation that imposes Islamic law – known as sharia. Those found guilty of breaches are often publicly whipped with a rattan cane.

But despite her reticence, she persevered and delivered her first caning.

A female flogger whips a woman in public in Banda Aceh on December 10, 2019. Photo: AFP

“I think she did a good job,” said Banda Aceh sharia police chief investigator Zakwan, who uses one name. “Her technique was nice.”

The controversial punishment enrages rights activists and generates heated media debate, as well as among politicians.

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