A shocking spectacle unfolded in Aceh, Indonesia, as a couple endured a brutal public caning of 140 lashes for violating Sharia law. The 21-year-old woman collapsed amidst the staggering ordeal after being punished for premarital sex and consuming alcohol.

It's the highest number of strokes dished out in Aceh's caning history. Stunned bystanders watched as the woman was struck with a rattan cane by three female officers. Her cries filled the air, and when she fainted, she was rushed to an ambulance by female officers, leaving the crowd in a state of shock.

This severe punishment was part of a broader crackdown. The couple wasn't alone on the podium of pain; four others faced similar fates, their own offenses laid bare for all to see. Among them, a member of the Islamic police force found guilty of inappropriate contact with a woman was caned 23 times. His shame was compounded by his looming dismissal, as confirmed by Muhammad Rizal, head of Aceh’s Islamic police.

Aceh is the lone province in Indonesia still enforcing Sharia law with such fervor. Critics, however, are vocal. Rights groups have repeatedly slammed caning as barbaric. Azharul Husna of Kontras, a leading rights organization, decried the lack of regulation and criticized the inadequate support systems for those who are punished.

Under Aceh's strict Islamic code, adultery and alcohol consumption are serious offenses. Sex outside marriage merits a harsh 100 lashes, while drinking scores you another 40. Yet, despite the public nature and severity of these punishments, calls for reevaluation persist. Many argue it's time to reassess how these laws are enforced and consider the welfare of those subjected to them.

But what does the future hold? In Aceh, discussions are intensifying. Will this inhumane spectacle finally spark change, or will the status quo prevail? As the public and authorities grapple with these controversies, Aceh’s caning practice remains a divisive issue on the world stage.

Key Takeaways:

• A young woman collapses after receiving a record 140 lashes.

• Rights groups condemn the cruel practice amid calls for change.

• Aceh remains Indonesia's sole province enforcing public caning under Sharia.

  

Adapted by ASEAN Now from Source 2026-01-30

 

 

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Diversity is our greatest strength.

Ouch ...

... heads up for what's to come, when sharia law is common in EU and some parts of USA. As soon as the demographics & votes sway the "peaceful religion's" way.

Surly it's already in practice in those "no go areas" of towns. Yea .. it is

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@Woke to Sounds

Malaysia has been doing this a while, when I lived there something about it in the newspaper every day. I haven't kept track, but there was a case where a former Beauty pageant model was seen at a resort drinking a beer; there was a controversy regarding her getting the whippin' stick. It's like having two separate systems of law.

Coming soon to a European country near you!

Most of us have never seen a caning. I have never heard of 140 lashes.

Rattan canes leave open wounds and results in permanent scars. They require immediate medical attention to avoid infection.

Bet these perverts really enjoyed undressed her, eh.

7 hours ago, ASEAN NOW News said:

But what does the future hold? In Aceh, discussions are intensifying. Will this inhumane spectacle finally spark change,

No.

"Religion poisons everything" to quote Christopher Hitchens. I some apologist yammers about 'religion of peace' remind them of these punishments.

6 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Ouch ...

... heads up for what's to come, when sharia law is common in EU and some parts of USA. As soon as the demographics & votes sway the "peaceful religion's" way.

Surly it's already in practice in those "no go areas" of towns. Yea .. it is

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2011/04/26/bring-back-the-lash/

https://www.chronicle.com/article/in-defense-of-flogging/

I sense you are a liberal when it comes to crime and punishment. OK with state murder, but quesy at the thought of other physical punishments, and an ungodly view of marriage.

Flogging, caning, is not a uniquely Islamic practice. There are groups calling for it's reintroduction into Christian society in order to reduce unmanageable prison populations. Would you oppose the public flogging of a drug dealer? And if so, why?

We could say its not civilized. But its not particularly civilized to kill convicts using gases or injected concoctions.

In 16 US states, adultery is still a crime, but the law is not enforced (https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/better-or-worse-adultery-crime-and-constitution, https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/social-sciences-and-humanities/adultery). Not everyone would agree with that position.

In most Western countries, there are restrictions on drinking alcohol, and most have severe punishments imposed on the supply of alcohol to underage drinkers (a year in prison, which is effectively career ending for most people). Under age drinkers in many US states includes 20 year olds who might have been serving their country in some bullet ridden hellhole.

In South Africa, Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald (white, Afrikaaner, very Christian) is actively considering the reintroduction of flogging to address prison crowding. Surprisingly, South Africa, a country with a 80% Christian majority, only abolished flogging in 1996.

In the UK, 17% of the population support flogging, 21% support the stocks, and 49% support reintroduction of corporal punishment in schools. Schools in Missouri have brought back paddling. This is likely to be repeated in Georgia and Florida.

A Texan campaign

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mans-mission-restore-corporal-punishment-dallas-public-schools/story?id=10576341

"I want to bring back corporal punishment to Dallas," Leal said. "Kids have no fear anymore. There are no consequences."

That equally applies to adults. If not, why not?

On this forum, I have strongly advocated the introduction of public punishment, lethal and non-lethal, but for contrary reasons.

I am opposed to the death penalty, on the grounds that justice is inperfect, and the death penalty offers no prospect of an injustice being corrected. That said, I firmly believe any country that advocates the death penalty should have the courage of its convictions, and carry out the punishments in public, with the compulsory participation in the act by members of the public, through ballot in a similar way to jury service. ie. you might be asked to pull the lever.

I support public non-lethal corporal punishment, which could involve floggings, or the stocks. I am sure modern technology could devise alternative approaches such as forms of electrocution, or the microwave devices developed by the US military (intended for crowd control, they simulate the feeling of being burned alive).

A bit of jacking of the system could change it from feeling hot to feeling actual pain, but without the physiological damage (for those worried about such things). Just make sure the criminal is not wearing eye glasses, to lessen the risk of eyeballs exploding.

Public shame still has a big role to play in law enforcement, and liberal policies over the last 60+ years has gradually stripped the concept of shame from society, to the extent that I rarely hear of politicians anymore expressing shame (and this is quite a recent development, considering the shameful resignations during the Thatcher years. Going back before, consider the genuine shame John Profumo felt). Doesn't happen anymore. An American politician performing oral sex in a pack theatre (and who was asked to leave), what happened? She was re-elected. Any of the names popping up in the Epstein files; nothing. Another US politician, who actively covered up sports department sexual abuse, repeatedly re-elected, shrugs about it. Boris Johnson, had to be dragged into police interviews under caution, before he finally got it. They are merely reflecting the corrosive impact lack of public punishment has had on morals.

The stocks were abolished in England because a doctor who was punished gamed the system to use the punishment to generate public system. I think it should be revisited.

Interestingly, it was the British who introduced corporal punishment to India, through modification of the Indian Penal Code in 1864. As recently as the 1950s, there were serious politicians in the UK calling for the Cat of Nine Tails to be used to deal with rising car thefts.

Which crimes should be subject to corporal or physical punishment depends on the society. There is a Christian tradition, a minority view, that holds that adultery is a capitol offence, followed by a spectrum of views that ends in spit roasting and wife swapping parties (never husband swapping). Marriage as an institution is in danger of collapsing, because of our liberal views on fidelity. Many take vows hypocritically, because there is no longer any shame in breaking them. Yet marriage is the glue that holds society together.

Some nitwits think Islam invented corporal punishment.

59 minutes ago, Emdog said:

"Religion poisons everything" to quote Christopher Hitchens. I some apologist yammers about 'religion of peace' remind them of these punishments.

Lack of religion causes problems. Lack of corporal punishment leads to feral, stabby kids, and politicians who feel no shame in sucking someone off in a crowded theatre.

We used to have similar punishments. Comparatively recently, they were abolished, which has proven to be a mistake given record prison populations and soaring divorce rates. Christianity preaches death for adulterers. Modern man has reinterpreted that as wife swapping parties.

2 hours ago, John Drake said:

No.

Nor should it. They only have to look at the societal mess the West has gotten into if they go too liberal.

11 hours ago, Emdog said:

"Religion poisons everything" to quote Christopher Hitchens. I some apologist yammers about 'religion of peace' remind them of these punishments.

"Salim" (or salem, however one decides to spell it out in our alphabet) means peace , so that is why. So yeah, just because they call it that doesn't mean it is. It's like Fox News, which is a propaganda service, very little actual news reported.

One day I saw on the CSPAN schedule a conservative US politician would be making a speech at a meeting of "Americans For Peace and Prosperity." Huh? One of the last people I would think of offering an olive branch. Turns out the organization is a lobby for 'the defense industry.'

For further explanation of this language concept see Orwell's 1984.

This happens only in Aceh.

Aceh is the sole exception in the country — no other province or region has the legal authority to enforce Sharia-based criminal punishments (like caning for moral offenses such as alcohol consumption, khalwat, or gambling). This special status was granted in 2001 as part of the peace agreement to end the separatist conflict with GAM (Free Aceh Movement), and it was fully implemented by around 2014–2015.

I go to Jakarta several times a year, it has bars, clubs, discos, can buy alcohol in supermarkets etc.

On 1/31/2026 at 9:50 AM, bendejo said:

Malaysia has been doing this a while, when I lived there something about it in the newspaper every day. I haven't kept track, but there was a case where a former Beauty pageant model was seen at a resort drinking a beer; there was a controversy regarding her getting the whippin' stick. It's like having two separate systems of law.

Only if you are Muslim!

You are correct they seem to have 2 separate sets of laws in Malaysia!

On 1/31/2026 at 2:25 PM, unblocktheplanet said:

Most of us have never seen a caning. I have never heard of 140 lashes.

Rattan canes leave open wounds and results in permanent scars. They require immediate medical attention to avoid infection.

Bet these perverts really enjoyed undressed her, eh.

The 21-year-old woman (and the man) remained fully clothed during the public caning in Banda Aceh on January 29, 2026.In Aceh's implementation of Sharia law, public canings for offenses like premarital sex (zina) and alcohol consumption are carried out with the recipients dressed, typically striking them on their backs through their clothing using a rattan cane.

This is standard practice to maintain modesty in line with Islamic principles, even though the punishment is public and intended to be humiliating and deterrent.

140 Lashes Shock Indonesia!

Only thing shocking is WHY they got caned.

Well Aceh is definitely off my bucket list!

This is the BBC so we don't know whether this really happened, and whether it happened the way portrayed. The BBC has been know to fake stories. I remember the BBC running the same islam-bashing story at one year interval about an alleged man in the Soudan having been sentenced to whipping for sodomizing a goat.

Notice in this female victimhood piece how the emphasis is about the "woman" collapsing. The man didn't collapse. He laughed all the way through.

On 1/31/2026 at 4:41 PM, Emdog said:

"Religion poisons everything" to quote Christopher Hitchens. I some apologist yammers about 'religion of peace' remind them of these punishments.

.

On 1/31/2026 at 9:12 AM, KhunLA said:

Ouch ...

... heads up for what's to come, when sharia law is common in EU and some parts of USA. As soon as the demographics & votes sway the "peaceful religion's" way.

Surly it's already in practice in those "no go areas" of towns. Yea .. it is

When will the authorities learn that probation and coddling is the way to go?

It's not their fault, they're the real victims.

It's not fair to have both crime AND punishment.

Decarlos Brown Jr. has a lengthy criminal history, with 14 prior arrests dating back to 2007, including charges for armed robbery, assault, and larceny. He was charged with first-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska on a train in August 2025.

"I got that WHite girl!"

Islam is so overrated. Religion of peace my azz.

Biggest cult in the world.

I would never visit a Muslim country.

3 minutes ago, Ubonian Canadian said:

Islam is so overrated. Religion of peace my azz.

Biggest cult in the world.

I would never visit a Muslim country.

That's not your call, is it? With the exhortations from the likes of @KhunLA about Sharia law taking over the planet, the "Muslim country" will be coming to visit you.

3 hours ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

This happens only in Aceh.

Aceh is the sole exception in the country — no other province or region has the legal authority to enforce Sharia-based criminal punishments (like caning for moral offenses such as alcohol consumption, khalwat, or gambling). This special status was granted in 2001 as part of the peace agreement to end the separatist conflict with GAM (Free Aceh Movement), and it was fully implemented by around 2014–2015.

I go to Jakarta several times a year, it has bars, clubs, discos, can buy alcohol in supermarkets etc.

There's absolutely no truth in the rumor that I had sex in the elevator at the Shangri-la in Surabaya. We simply met in the elevator. The sex happened in her room later.

From the article about the event I think the caning brought great shame to the government and has caused debate that could challenge the law eventually. There is hope the Aceh people can be civilised over time.

On 1/31/2026 at 4:40 PM, Roadsternut said:

Some nitwits think Islam invented corporal punishment.

No, I am not okay with state murder, as in war and capital punishment. Nor am I okay with any kind of violence used against anyone.

I had not heard of them, but it sounds like those Xian extremists don’t follow the turn-the-other-cheek crowd.

Why would govt—or a mob—flog a drug dealer? What purpose would it serve? We all know deterrence is worthless. Who’s going to eliminate the motivation of profit (learned from our capitalist masters) or rewire the brain to delete anger, jealousy, envy?

You’re right: soldiers are trash, throwaway humans. Thank you for your service—bull<deleted>. Govt uses them up, spits them out.

And how will flogging reduce the prison population? By flogging prisoners to death? Although the minister is a Boer, 99+% of SA prisoners are black. Ifthe minister doesn’t like that, he could become refugee in the US. “Very Christian”, my pink ass.

Just like the very Xian states of Missouri & Texas. Hit my kid, you got a problem.

I do like your idea about execution by ballot. It would attract a lot of vengeful Xians and lunatics, of course, but be a public witness. I think that would end capital punishment once and for all. I well remember that secret photo of Ethel & Julius Rosenberg being fried in Sing Sing’s electric chair.

As for public punishment, I think you are one sick <deleted>! Hope your eyeballs don’t explode. Keep reading The Washington Monthly for more good ideas!

3 hours ago, JackGats said:

This is the BBC so we don't know whether this really happened, and whether it happened the way portrayed. The BBC has been know to fake stories. I remember the BBC running the same islam-bashing story at one year interval about an alleged man in the Soudan having been sentenced to whipping for sodomizing a goat.

Notice in this female victimhood piece how the emphasis is about the "woman" collapsing. The man didn't collapse. He laughed all the way through.

Okaaay. So now we know it was a female goat?

3 hours ago, Purdey said:

From the article about the event I think the caning brought great shame to the government and has caused debate that could challenge the law eventually. There is hope the Aceh people can be civilised over time.

The people in Aceh, don't have to live there, they could move to other parts of Indonesia, where its more normal.

Presumably, they choose to live there?

Just think of all the wars and global conflict going on, because people hate the others religion. Be far better off without it.

a muslim solution to a muslim problem, who cares, leave them to it ! i wont be losing any sleep over it , and truth be known neither will any virtue signalling lefties , despite what they say