Indonesia: woman accused of adultery whipped 100 times, against 15 times for her partner

An Indonesian woman was whipped 100 times for adultery on Thursday in the conservative province of Aceh, the only region in Indonesia that applies Islamic Sharia law, while her partner, who dismissed the charges, received only 15 lashes.

The court handed down a heavier sentence for the woman because the latter confessed to investigators that she had cheated on her husband, said Ivan Najjar Alavi, the head of the general investigations division at the prosecutor’s office.

Conversely, the judges did not believe they could sentence his companion, however also married, to such a severe sentence.

“During the trial, he did not admit anything, he rejected all the charges. Thus (the judges), are not in a position to prove his guilt, ”Mr. Alavi informed reporters after the public flogging of the offenders.

As an alternative punishment, he was convicted of “showing signs of affection to a woman other than his wife”.

The couple were surprised by locals at a palm oil plantation in 2018.

Flagellated, the woman found it difficult to bear the pain. His ordeal was briefly interrupted, noted an AFP journalist.

That same day, another man, convicted of having sex with a minor, was hit 100 times in the same way. He will also have to spend 75 months in prison, prosecutors say.

Dozens of people have come to witness the punishments. The scene was filmed and then broadcast on social networks.

A show criticized by human rights defenders, who denounced the cruelty of this practice, although it is supported by the population of Aceh, whose five million inhabitants are 98% Muslim.

This very conservative province has enjoyed relative independence since an agreement reached with the central authorities in Jakarta in 2005 to end a decades-long conflict with pro-independence rebels.

Wearing the veil is compulsory for women, adultery, sexual relations outside marriage or with a person of the same sex are punished. Alcohol consumption or gambling is prohibited. Cinema is banned, to avoid “non-Islamic” behavior.

The Aceh region once considered beheading for the most serious crimes, but the Indonesian government vetoed it.

In 2019, officially, 43 men and 42 women were sentenced to flogging for religious crimes in the city of Banda Aceh alone.

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