Gay Couple Publicly Caned in Indonesia

(23 May 2017) Two men in Indonesia's Aceh province were publicly caned dozens of times on Tuesday for consensual gay sex, a punishment that intensifies an anti-gay backlash in the world's most populous Muslim country and which rights advocates denounced as "medieval torture." More than a thousand people packed the courtyard of a mosque to witness the caning, which was the first time that Aceh, the only province in Indonesia to practice Sharia law, has caned people for homosexuality. The crowd shouted insults and cheered as the men, aged 20 and 23, were whipped across the back and winced with pain. Many in the crush of spectators filmed the caning with mobile phones as a team of five robed and hooded enforcers took turns to inflict the punishment, relieving one another after every 20 strokes for one of the men and 40 for the other. The couple were arrested in March after neighbourhood vigilantes in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, suspected them of being gay and broke into their rented room to catch them having sex. A Sharia court last week sentenced each man to 85 strokes, but they were caned 83 times after a remission for time spent in prison. Four heterosexual couples also were caned on Tuesday, receiving a far lesser number of strokes for affection outside marriage. With the exception of Aceh, homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but the country's low-profile LGBT community has been under siege in the past year. Caning is also a punishment in Aceh for gambling, drinking alcohol, women who wear tight clothes and men who skip Friday prayers. More than 300 people were caned for such offences in 2016. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/8ec1c33c214079989e9737c5c2077b9a Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork