Sharia police officers prepare a woman to be publicly flogged in front of a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh on April 20, 2018. A group of amorous couples and prostitutes were publicly whipped for breaking Islamic law in Indonesia' s Aceh province on April 20, just a week after it pledged to take the widely condemned practice indoors. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)





A Shariah law official whips a woman who is convicted of prostitution during a public caning outside a mosque in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Friday, April 20, 2018. Indonesia's deeply conservative Aceh province on Friday caned several unmarried couples for showing affection in public and two women for prostitution before an enthusiastic audience of hundreds. The canings were possibly the last to be carried out before large crowds in Aceh after the province's governor announced earlier this month that the punishments would be moved indoors. (Photo by Heri Juanda/AP Photo)





An Acehnese man is caned in public for violating sharia law in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 20 April 2018. Aceh's provincial government has decided to end the carrying out of caning sentences in public to prevent them from being witnessed by children or recorded and spread on social media. (Photo by Raihal Fajri/EPA/EFE)





Supporters of an Indonesian hardline Muslim group gather to protest in Banda Aceh on April 19, 2018, against a new regulation that will see criminals flogged only behind prison walls. Indonesia' s Aceh province will stop whipping criminals in public after a wave of international condemnation of the practice, local officials said recently. Aceh is the only province in the world' s most populous Muslim- majority country that imposes sharia law and people can be flogged for a range of offences – from gambling, to drinking alcohol to having gay s*x or relations outside of marriage. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)





Supporters of an Indonesian hardline Muslim group gather to protest in Banda Aceh on April 19, 2018, against a new regulation that will see criminals flogged only behind prison walls. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)





An Acehnese woman covers her face as she is caned in public for violating sharia law in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 20 April 2018. In Aceh - a deeply conservative province in Muslim-majority Indonesia - two women accused of prostitution were caned 11 times each. Three unmarried couples accused of “flirtatious behaviour” also received between 11 and 22 strokes. Shariah police wanted to convict the couples of “zina” – unlawful sexual intercourse that includes s*x outside marriage and adultery – which would have resulted in a greater number of lashes, but they lacked enough witnesses. One of the two women convicted of prostitution held up her hands after the fifth lash to signal that the pain was too intense. After a quick break she was given a drink and painfully lashed another six times. Members of the crowd, which included tourists from Malaysia, cheered enthusiastically at each blow and recorded the punishment with their smartphones. Aceh is the only part of Indonesia to enforce Sharia law. The province’s actions were condemned by many and the governor of Aceh announced earlier this month that punishments would be moved indoors. After this display last week, canings will likely only happen in prisons where the public can’t see them. Many residents are opposed to hiding them, believing it will reduce the deterrent and cause more people to violate Shariah law. (Photo by Raihal Fajri/EPA/EFE)





Onlookers hold up smartphones as they witness a public flogging in front of a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh on April 20, 2018. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)





A woman is publicly flogged in front of a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh on April 20, 2018. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)





Onlookers witness a public flogging in front of a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh on April 20, 2018. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)





A woman is publicly flogged in front of a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh on April 20, 2018. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)