CRUEL. Barbaric. Archaic. Those were just some of the sentiments that followed reports of a couple who were subject to severe punishment for the crime of having consensual sex outside matrimony.
Daily Mail's Post
As reported by the UK’s Daily Mail, a woman passed out after she and her partner were lashed 100 times each for sleeping together outside of marriage under an Indonesian province’s draconian Syariah laws.
The woman, who was not identified, needed to be carried away after she was publicly caned in Banda Aceh, on the north end of Sumatra island.
A figure dressed head-to-toe in an ominous brown garb with a white mask administered the lashes. The woman’s partner was seen grimacing as he took the punishment.
The couple were two of several people who were punished under Sharia law. The Banda Aceh Sharia Court and Prosecutor’s Office was punishing Sharia violators with between 25 and 100 lashes, including those involved in extramarital romps arranged through online apps.
Unmarried couples are not allowed to sleep together under the harsh laws in the region of Aceh, which is the only place in Muslim-majority Indonesia to administer Sharia law.
The news was also shared on the British tabloid’s Facebook feed, generating 40.2K likes, 13.4K comments and 5.9K shares at time of publication, with many expressing horror at the harshness of the punishment.
The sense of outrage among the western readership was palpable, with many clearly disagreeing that the state should have any say in a person’s personal affairs, especially when it involves consenting adults.
Arguing that sex outside marriage was also frowned upon in other religions, one commenter felt that the punishment went too far.
Let the person take responsibility for their actions rather than public shaming such as this seems to be the sentiment here.
Let the person who has not sinned cast the first stone. This was the message from a commenter who asked if the executor and, indeed, the accuser had spotless records.
However, there were those who applauded the punishment, seeing it as a deterrent to social ills that stem from “women’s bodies being treated as public property”.
It was argued that critics do not fully understand the merits of Syariah law and therefore should refrain from commenting.
It was also pointed out that the caning in this instance was not the same as those carried out in prison, insinuating that it was a lot less severe.
The difference in ideology is stark, especially to Western perceptions. To those with liberal idealogy, it will seem utterly unacceptable that the authorities have any say in a citizens’ consensual intimate relations.
But to some, it is an acceptable method to control social ills. The hypocrisy of Western media for reporting this instead of other equally shocking news was highlighted as subtle propaganda.
The division is stark with nothing in between if the comments in the Daily Mail’s Facebook feed seem to suggest.
In the meantime, lusty lovers in Bandar Aceh best beware as they all know, if caught, the punishment will be severe. —May 24, 2026
No comments:
Post a Comment