Woman flogged in public for getting too close to boyfriend

This is the shocking moment an Indonesian woman is publicly whipped for getting ‘too close’ to her partner in the days before their wedding.

Closeness is seen as a prelude to pre-marital sex in the far eastern nation which strongly adheres to Sharia Law.
The woman and her partner both received 20 lashes each, as crowds gathered to watch their flogging. The couple were among a group brought forward for public punishment in the strict Islamic nation.
Among the group was an Indonesian Christian, publically whipped for selling alcohol in the conservative province of Aceh.

Selling and consuming alcohol in the country is a violation of its Islamic Law.
Jono Simbolon was arrested in October and sentenced to 36 lashes for selling illegal alcohol. He grimaced in pain as a masked religious officer lashed his back with a rattan stick on a makeshift stage outside a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh. The Christian was one of 10 people - eight men and two women - caned after Friday prayers for offences that including pimping, prostitution and gambling.
As he writhed in pain, crowds, which included children, jeered.

A doctor was brought in to check on Simbolon's condition after 10 strokes.
He was deemed to be in good condition, allowing the flogging to continue. He is only the third non-Muslim to suffer a public whipping since Aceh, on Sumatra island, began implementing Islamic law. The province was granted special autonomy in 2001 in an attempt by the central government to quell a long-running separatist insurgency. Banda Aceh mayor Aminullah Usman said:

"This is our government's commitment to enforcing Islamic law.
"If there is a violation (of the law) immediately report it to the Sharia police and we will carry out a punishment like today's caning.”

Around 98 per cent of Aceh's five million residents are Muslims who are subject to religious law, known locally as Qanun.
Non-Muslims who have committed an offence that violates both national and religious laws - such as selling bootleg liquor - can choose to be prosecuted under either system. Chief prosecutor Erwin Desman said: "(Simbolon) is a Christian but he decided to bow to Qanun.” It is suggest that the man may have chosen to receive a flogging in order to avoid a lengthy criminal prosecution.
Aceh is the only province in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, which implements Islamic law, or Sharia.