An unmarried couple in Indonesia’s Aceh province was publicly caned after a TikTok live video allegedly showed them kissing inside a car, according to international media reports.

The video, which went viral in February, led to public complaints and the couple’s arrest by Sharia police in April. The case has drawn attention to Aceh’s strict Islamic legal system, under which moral offences can carry corporal punishment.

According to reports, the couple — a 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman — appeared in the TikTok live video on February 27. Authorities later seized a mobile phone and USB flash drive as evidence during proceedings in a Sharia court.

The court initially sentenced both individuals to 25 lashes each. However, the punishment was reduced to 21 lashes each after the court took into account that they had spent nearly four months in detention.

The sentence was carried out publicly at Bustanussalam City Park in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, in front of more than 100 people. Masked officials from the law and justice department administered the punishment using a cane-like wooden stick.

Other punishments carried out

On the same day, four other people were also publicly caned on charges linked to online gambling and adultery, according to reports.

Aceh is the only province in Indonesia where Sharia law is formally enforced. The province was granted special authority to implement Islamic law under a 2006 peace agreement that ended a separatist conflict.

In 2015, the rules were extended to non-Muslims, although they make up a small minority of the province’s population.

Under Aceh’s Sharia regulations, offences such as adultery, gambling, alcohol consumption, same-sex relations, women wearing tight clothing and men skipping Friday prayers can lead to caning. Some morality-related offences may carry penalties of up to 100 lashes.

Amnesty International Indonesia condemned the punishment, calling it a violation of human rights and human dignity. Its executive director, Usman Hamid, said behaviour considered socially inappropriate should not be treated as a crime punishable by imprisonment or public caning.

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