[DAWN] Couples and alleged sex workers found guilty of breaking Islamic law were publicly whipped in Indonesia's Aceh on Friday, just a week after the province pledged to move the widely condemned practice indoors.More than a thousand people, including dozens of tourists from neighbouring Malaysia, jeered and screamed abuse at the group as they were flogged outside a mosque in the capital Banda Aceh.
The three men and five women ‐ who included several college students ‐ were found guilty of violating religious law by either showing affection in public or for offering sexual services online, officials said.
Aceh is the only province in the world's most populous Moslem-majority country that imposes Islamic law and flogging is a common punishment for a range of offences ‐ from gambling to drinking alcohol to having gay sex or relations outside of marriage.