A young couple whose kiss inside a parked car was captured during a TikTok livestream were publicly caned on Thursday in Indonesia's Aceh province, in one of the latest applications of the region's Islamic criminal code, local media reported.
The man and woman, aged 22 and 25, each received 21 lashes before a crowd gathered in a public park in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, according to local news outlet Serambinews.com.
The pair had originally been sentenced to 25 lashes after being convicted of ikhtilat- an offence under Aceh's Sharia-based legal code that prohibits intimacy between an unmarried man and woman - but the punishment was reduced to account for time already spent in detention.
The case attracted nationwide attention after footage of the couple kissing inside a car during a TikTok livestream went viral on social media in February.
They were among six people publicly caned on Thursday after rulings by the Banda Aceh Sharia Court became final.
Two men each received 28 lashes after being convicted of an offence related to intimate conduct.
Aceh's Islamic criminal code covers offences ranging from gambling and alcohol consumption to adultery and consensual intimacy outside marriage.
Aceh, located on the northern tip of Sumatra, was granted special autonomy by the Indonesian government in the early 2000s after decades of separatist conflict. Under that arrangement, the province was permitted to implement a version of Islamic law distinct from Indonesia's predominantly secular national legal system.
Public caning remains one of the most controversial aspects of Aceh's legal system, with human rights groups condemning the practice as cruel, degrading and incompatible with international human rights standards.
