Sharia police have caned a couple 140 times each in Indonesia’s Aceh province for having sex outside marriage and drinking alcohol, likely one of the severest such punishments since the deeply conservative region adopted Islamic law.

Sexual relations between an unmarried couple are strictly outlawed in Aceh, the only place in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, to impose sharia law.

The couple, a man and a woman, were struck on their backs with a rattan stick in a public park while dozens of people watched, according to an AFP reporter at the scene. The woman fainted after enduring her punishment and was escorted to an ambulance.

In total, the pair received 140 lashes: 100 for sex outside marriage and 40 for consuming alcohol, the head of Banda Aceh’s Sharia police, Muhammad Rizal, told AFP.

It is thought to be one of the highest numbers of cane lashes imposed since sharia was implemented after Aceh was granted special autonomy in 2001.

The couple was among six people flogged for breaking the Islamic code, including a sharia police officer and his female partner, who were caught in close proximity in a private place. That couple received 23 strikes each.

“As promised, we make no exceptions, especially not for our own members. This certainly tarnishes our name,” Rizal said.

Caning is implemented in Aceh to punish a range of offences, including gambling, drinking alcohol, having gay sex and having sexual relations outside marriage.

In 2025, two men were publicly flogged 76 times each after they were found guilty of sexual relations by the sharia court.