Indonesia publicly caned two Christians in a rare case of non-Muslims punished under sharia law.
The two Indonesian Christians – Dahlan Silitonga, 61, and Tjia Nyuk Hwa, 45 – were whipped six and seven times respectively by a masked man wearing a robe, as a crowd of 300 ridiculed and took pictures of them outside a mosque in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.
The strict Islamic law punishment against the Christian man and woman comes as the predominently Muslim country shifts to a more radical, politicized version of Islam, Reuters reported.
The pair – among five people punished – was accused of gambling. Police said they were playing a game at a children’s entertainment complex that lets users exchange coins for prizes or vouchers, including cash. They were beaten with a rattan stick, while another man involved with them got 19 lashes.
Another couple was whipped two dozen times for showing affection in public.
Banda Aceh is the only province in Indonesia that imposes sharia law since it was adopted in 2001 as part of a deal with the central government to end a long-running insurgency. The province has flogged its non-Muslim citizens for a range of offenses – from gambling to selling alcohol to having gay or extramarital sex.
“This is to create a deterrent effect, in order for people not to repeat violations of Islamic sharia law,” Banda Aceh’s mayor Aminullah Usman said. “We purposely do it in front of the public ... so it won’t happen again.” READ MORE
