A Woman Was Publicly Whipped 100 Times for Adultery. The Man? 15 Strokes.

A local couple was publicly whipped for committing adultery in Indonesia’s ultra-conservative province of Aceh—the woman lashed 100 times while the man, who denied having an affair, received just 15 strokes. 

Dozens gathered on Thursday to witness the public flogging. According to AFP, the woman's flogging was briefly paused because she couldn't bear the pain. Pictures of the event showed her fully dressed in traditional clothes and standing before masked enforcers, wearing robes and hoods. 

The man and woman were caught together by locals at a palm oil plantation and reported to the religious police, according to AFP. Court officials and investigators overlooking the case defended handing the woman a heftier sentence than the man, saying she had confessed to cheating on her husband and to having sex with another married man. 

The man, described as the head of a local fishery body, denied wrongdoing and was let off easier. "During the trial, he admitted nothing, denying all accusations,” head investigator Ivan Najjar Alavi told local reporters who gathered at the venue where the public flogging took place. “Thus, [judges] are not able to prove whether he is guilty.”

He was instead found guilty of "showing affection to a female partner” who was not his wife and sentenced to 30 strokes, later reduced to just 15 after he managed to successfully appeal the punishment. 

“How could a woman, who admitted to having sex with the man, be sentenced to 100 lashes and the man only 15,” Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch, told VICE World News. “It is simply irrational and also shows the bias of the judges. It's discriminatory towards women.”

He reiterated the rights organisations’ long-standing calls for Aceh government officials to review its legal system. 

Semi-autonomous Aceh is the only province of Indonesia where Islamic Sharia law is imposed. Public canings are often carried out as a form of punishment for citizens committing acts deemed criminal and immoral—like gambling, gay sex, and the consumption of alcohol. 

Two men were whipped in January last year for having sexual intercourse, with one man’s mother fainting on the spot at the sight of seeing her son being hit. Two Christian men were also whipped for drinking alcohol and gambling last year.

Follow Heather Chen on Twitter.