The caning so severe even the flogger took pity: Four people are whipped a HUNDRED times each for adultery before 'algojo' whispers support to one woman

By OLIVIA ALLHUSEN, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 10:49, 20 August 2026 | Updated: 10:52, 20 August 2026 Four people were whipped 100 times each for adultery under Sharia law in Indonesia, in a caning so severe even the flogger was seen offering support to one woman. The four were among 11 people publicly punished at Bustanul Salatin Park in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia’s deeply conservative Aceh province, on Thursday.  They had been found guilty of zina, or illicit sexual intercourse, under the province’s Qanun Jinayat Islamic criminal code and were each sentenced to 100 lashes.  Pictures from the brutal punishment show one woman enduring the repeated blows as she kneels on a platform in front of officials.  At one point, the algojo, the name given to the person who carries out canings under Sharia law in Aceh, was seen leaning towards the woman and appearing to offer her words of support.  Other images show the woman crying as she is comforted by an official and offered water following the punishment.  Further footage shows a male convict grimacing in pain as the cane strikes his back. A total of 11 people convicted of violating Aceh’s Islamic criminal code underwent caning at the park on Thursday, including the four sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery. Aceh is the only province in Indonesia permitted to enforce Sharia law through its own Islamic criminal code, which allows caning as a punishment. An algojo offers support to a convict sentenced to 100 lashes at Bustanul Salatin Park in Banda Aceh, Aceh Province, Indonesia A woman underwent a public caning in Taman Sari, Banda Aceh, Aceh Province, Indonesia, on Thursday, August 20, 2026 An official assists a convict who is weak after receiving 100 lashes at Bustanul Salatin Park in Banda Aceh, Aceh Province, Indonesia One of four individuals who violated Sharia law by committing adultery underwent a punishment of 100 lashes at Bustanul Salatin Park in Banda Aceh, Aceh Province, Indonesia Public caning is used to punish a wide range of offences under Aceh's Sharia code, including gambling, drinking alcohol, same-sex relationships and having sexual relations outside marriage. Child rape carries the harshest punishment under the province's Sharia laws, with offenders facing up to 200 strokes of the cane, a prison sentence of up to 200 months or a fine equivalent to two kilograms of gold. The public nature of the punishments is intended to shame offenders as well as inflict pain. Canings are often staged outside mosques or in community squares, with crowds gathering to watch and photograph the event. Human rights groups say the public humiliation adds to the cruelty and causes lasting psychological damage. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly condemned the practice, saying it violates Indonesia's constitution and its obligations under international law. It comes after in July a woman became the first person to be publicly caned in Indonesia's Aceh province for 'committing obscenity live with a man on social media' under its strict Sharia law. The punishment was handed down after she and her partner were accused of kissing during a TikTok livestream. Images show the woman kneeling and screaming in agony as a masked Sharia police officer repeatedly brings the cane down across her back. Her face contorts in pain with each strike before the punishment becomes too much to bear and she loses consciousness. Dozens of onlookers watched the caning, with some calling for the officials who carried out the punishment to 'whip stronger'. It is unclear how many of the 21 lashes she was sentenced to the woman had received before she fainted. She is seen collapsing to the ground clutching her back as a woman behind her rushes forward to catch her. The woman then lies motionless on the floor as a medic examines her to determine whether she is fit enough for the punishment to continue.   Rows of police officers watched the punishment from their seats as it was carried out in public. Pictured: Officials assisting a woman after she was caned Pictures from the brutal punishment show one woman enduring the repeated blows as she kneels on a platform in front of officials Pictured: A man grimaces as he is caned in Indonesia's Aceh Province on Thursday The woman's partner was also caned over the TikTok livestream, while four other convicts also received lashes. The couple was reported to the authorities after they were seen kissing during a livestream on the video app TikTok, which prompted an investigation that led to their punishment, the city's sharia police head Muhammad Rizal told reporters. 'They clearly violated the Islamic sharia,' Rizal said, adding that it was the first time in the religiously conservative province that people were punished for violating sharia law through social media. Acts of physical intimacy such as kissing, hugging or touching between men and women who are not husband and wife are forbidden in Aceh, the only province in the Southeast Asian country that applies a version of the Islamic law. Amnesty International Indonesia spokesman Haeril Halim said the punishment for the couple was 'a horrifying act of discrimination'. 'This shows that the Aceh Islamic Criminal Code (Qanun Jinayat) has expanded its reach to target peaceful expressions in the digital sphere with the caning of the young couple,' he said in a statement to AFP. He called for the government to end the use of caning, adding that corporal punishment 'has no place in a just and humane society'. Another couple also received 27 lashes earlier that week for physical intimacy, while two men were caned 29 times and eight times, respectively, for gambling. In May, authorities flogged two men and two women 100 times for having sex outside of marriage. Five others were also caned at the time for violations including being in proximity of members of the opposite sex and alcohol consumption. Caning, though not a legal form of punishment in Indonesia, retains strong support in Aceh. Even if she requires medical treatment, she will not escape the sentence, with any remaining lashes postponed until she is deemed well enough to complete the caning.