Couple receives public caning in Indonesia's Aceh province after TikTok livestream
A 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman were publicly caned in Aceh after being convicted of violating local Sharia-based morality laws for a livestreamed kiss.
A young couple in Indonesia's Aceh province was publicly caned on Thursday after a court found them guilty of violating the region's Islamic criminal code. The 22-year-old man and 25-year-old woman each received 21 lashes, a reduction from an initial 25, following four months of pre-trial detention.
Authorities said the pair filmed a TikTok video inside a car in March, during which they kissed. The livestream attracted complaints from residents, prompting the Sharia police to investigate. "The trigger was their livestream on TikTok while engaging in immoral acts in the car," Sharia Police head Muhammad Rizal said, adding that netizen criticism led to the report.
The court also seized the couple's cellphone and a USB drive containing the video, which officials said would be destroyed. A local resident who witnessed the caning expressed support, stating that the punishment serves as a warning to others about social-media conduct.
Aceh is the only Indonesian province that enforces its own Islamic criminal code, a policy granted by the central government in 2005 as part of a peace agreement. The code allows caning for a range of moral offenses, including premarital intimacy, gambling and drinking. Human-rights groups have repeatedly criticized the practice as cruel, though provincial authorities maintain it does not violate international conventions.
