In Indonesia’s only province that enforces a formal version of Islamic Sharia law, a young couple has received public corporal punishment after a viral TikTok livestream of them kissing resulted in conviction for violating local religious morality regulations. The sentence was carried out Thursday on a public stage in Bustanussalatin City Park, Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, where at least 100 onlookers gathered to watch as masked, robed officials administered 21 strokes of a rattan cane to each person.
The couple — a 22-year-old man and 25-year-old woman — were taken into custody by Sharia authorities in April, roughly two months after their Feb. 27 in-car livestream circulated widely across social media and triggered formal complaints to local officials. Originally, the Sharia court had sentenced each defendant to 25 lashes, but the punishment was reduced by four strokes to account for the four months the pair spent in pre-sentencing detention. As part of the court ruling, the mobile phone and USB drive storing the original livestream footage were seized and ordered destroyed as evidence of the violation. Thursday’s caning was not an isolated event: four additional Aceh residents were also publicly punished the same day for convictions of online gambling and adultery.
Aceh’s right to enforce Sharia law was granted by Indonesia’s secular national government in 2006, as a key component of a peace agreement designed to end decades of violent separatist conflict in the province. In 2015, regional authorities expanded the scope of the law to apply to non-Muslim residents, who make up roughly 1 percent of Aceh’s total population. Under the regional regulatory framework, morality offenses can carry penalties of up to 100 lashes. The punishment is also routinely applied for violations ranging from gambling and alcohol consumption to immodest clothing for women and failure to attend Friday prayers for men.
Human rights advocates have strongly condemned the practice, labeling public caning a clear violation of fundamental human rights standards. Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, noted that while the couple’s public kiss may be seen as inappropriate for a platform accessed by audiences of all ages, including children, corporal punishment and imprisonment remain wildly excessive responses. “It is cruel, inhumane and degrading to human dignity,” Hamid explained, pointing out that Indonesia has formally ratified an international convention requiring the elimination of cruel and unusual punishment.
But the punishment has drawn support from some local Aceh residents who attended the public event. Aini Nadhirah, a 22-year-old Banda Aceh resident who was in the audience, argued that the public punishment serves a necessary educational purpose. “In my opinion, this caning is entirely justified because it serves as a warning to other Aceh residents to be more careful when using social media,” Nadhirah said. “It also raises awareness that such actions are unacceptable, thereby educating the public.”