Indonesian Islamic Sharia Court Publicly Flogs Two Men For Gay Sex; Over 100 Watch, Film Torture

Last Updated:August 26, 2025, 17:59 IST

Banda Aceh province in Indonesia imposes a version of sharia, the Islamic legal code. Gay sex however is not illegal elsewhere in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

An official uses a rattan cane to whip one of two men convicted of violating Islamic law by hugging and kissing, which the court ruled can lead to banned sexual relations, in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia. (IMAGE: AP PHOTO)

Two men were publicly flogged 76 times each in Indonesia’s conservative province of Aceh on Tuesday after an Islamic Sharia court found them “guilty of same-sex relations". Aceh outlaws gay sex as it imposes strict sharia law, an Islamic legal code. However, gay sex is not illegal in most parts of Indonesia which is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

Indonesia’s national criminal code does not regulate homosexuality but the central government cannot strike down Shariah law in Aceh.

Aceh expanded its Islamic bylaws and criminal code in 2015, extending Shariah law to non-Muslims, who account for about 1% of the province’s population.

The men were among 10 others who were publicly flogged at a park in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, for a range of alleged crimes, AFP said in a report, adding that the pair were flogged separately with a rattan stick as a small crowd watched.

The men were found in the same park in April, Roslina A. Djalil, head of Banda Aceh sharia police’s law enforcement, Roslina A. Djalil told the news agency.

Their initial sentences of 80 lashes each were reduced by four for four months spent in detention.

A separate report by the Associated Press said that the Islamic religious police said they caught them engaged in what the court deemed were the sexual acts of hugging and kissing in a bathroom of the public park.

Eight other people were publicly caned Tuesday for adultery and gambling.

The men were arrested in April at Taman Sari city park in Banda Aceh after residents told a police patrol they saw the men enter the same park bathroom. The police found the men inside kissing and hugging. Prior to meeting in the park, the pair made contact through an online dating app, court records said.

Aceh allows up to 100 lashes for morality offenses including gay sex and sex between unmarried people. Caning is also a punishment in Aceh for gambling, drinking alcohol, women who wear tight clothes and men who do not attend Friday prayers.

There have been four previous canings for cases related to homosexuality since the province implemented Islamic law and established a religious police and court system in 2006. The change was a concession by the national government to end a long-running separatist uprising.

Banda Aceh, Indonesia

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