Teenagers flogged publicly for hugging each other

Two teenagers were flogged 17 times each because for hugging each other in Indonesia’s Aceh province, they also spent months in jail.

A female university student and her boyfriend, who are both 18-years-old, were handed the sentence under strict Sharia law in the province. The law forbids intimate displays in public.

The pair were marched on to a stage in front of a mosque in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh before being struck across the back with a bamboo cane. Hundreds of spectators gathered to watch the punishment being carried out.

Afterward, Banda Aceh deputy mayor Zainal Arifin said;

People outside of Aceh who think Islamic Sharia is cruel can now see that it is actually very tolerant and humane.