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People took photographs and cheered while she was being punished. And for those who thought this was in Islamic State-occupied Syria, It was in Indonesia.
A woman was caned in front of a crowd of people for being ‘too close’ to a man who she wasn’t married to -- an offence in Indonesia under Sharia Law.
Nur Elita was forced to endure the punishment outside a mosque where hundreds of people gathered to watch her being caned.
She received five lashes and had to be taken to hospital following the punishment.
Nur had violated the region’s strict Sharia laws after she allegedly showed affection to a fellow university student.
Sharia Law states that men and women who are not married are not allowed to get close to eachother due to the ‘khalwat’ offence. They face public caning if they do.
The woman was forced to kneel down outside the Baiturrahumim Mosque in Banda Aceh, while a masked man whipped her with a cane.
The deputy mayor of Banda Aceh, Zainal Arifin, reportedly said before the caning took place: ‘Take these punishments as a lesson.
“What has been done by these convicts should not be taken as example. And I hope their canings today will be the last ever.”
Image: Elita screams out in agony after being whipped in a caning ceremony outside a mosque in Indonesia's Banda Aceh region. Photograph: Junaidi Hanafiah/Reuters