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Your support makes all the difference.A man and a woman have been publicly whipped in Indonesia in an archaic punishment for reportedly having sex outside of marriage.
Photographs show a crowd of people, including some laughing, as the couple receive lashes from a cane.
The punishment took place in the city of Banda Aceh where Sharia law is strictly enforced.
Aceh is the only province in Indonesia that has implemented some provisions of Sharia law.
People are flogged as many as 200 times for a range of activities criminalised under the strict laws including gambling, drinking alcohol, gay sex or any non-marital relationships.
Punishments include caning, fines, and imprisonment. There is no provision for stoning, with an attempt to introduce it in 2009 vetoed by authorities.
The local government in the province has a high level of autonomy, partly as a result of bitter conflict in the region between 1976 and 2005.
In 2001 the state was given broader powers including the authority to formally implement provisions of Islamic criminal law, in accordance with Sharia, which has seen the number of public punishments rise.
The photographs show the woman kneeling as she is whipped with a bamboo cane.
The man who was also punished stood as he received the same punishment.
Under laws agreed in 2003, the maximum number of caning strokes was set at 40, and in practice rarely exceeded 12, but changes in 2014 saw the minimum number of strokes set at 10 and the maximum at 150.
Those punished for being in 'close proximity' to the opposite sex can expect 10 to 25 strokes.
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