Indonesia’s Aceh Province Publicly Canes Couple for Kissing on TikTok Livestream

Updated July 2, 2026

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — A young couple in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province were publicly caned Thursday after a Sharia court convicted them of violating Islamic law by kissing during a TikTok livestream.

• Aceh’s Sharia court ordered the two individuals whipped with a rattan cane 21 times each for kissing without being married.
• Aceh remains the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia that enforces a version of Islamic law.

The punishment was carried out before at least a hundred onlookers in Bustanussalatin City Park in Banda Aceh. The couple — a 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman — were arrested in April after a February 27 livestream showing them kissing in a car went viral, prompting reports to local Sharia authorities.

Aceh secured the right to implement religious law in 2006 as part of a peace agreement with Indonesia’s secular central government to end a decades-long separatist insurgency. In 2015, the province expanded the law’s application to non-Muslims, who constitute roughly 1 percent of the population.

The legal code permits up to 100 lashes for morality offenses including adultery and gay sex. Caning is also prescribed for gambling, consuming alcohol, women wearing tight clothing, and men skipping Friday prayers.

The couple originally received 25 lashes each, but the sentence was reduced to 21 strokes to account for four months already served in prison. The court also confiscated a cellphone and USB flash drive containing the TikTok video as evidence slated for destruction.

Four other individuals were publicly caned Thursday for online gambling and adultery.

Amnesty International Indonesia condemned the practice as a human rights violation. “Public caning in Aceh is cruel, inhumane, and degrading to human dignity,” said Usman Hamid, the organization’s executive director. “Such behavior might be considered inappropriate because social media is viewed by people of various age groups, including children. But is it a crime that warrants imprisonment or even caning? That would be excessive.”

Not all locals oppose the punishment. Banda Aceh resident Aini Nadhirah, 22, who attended the caning, called it justified. “In my opinion, this caning is entirely justified because it serves as a warning to other Aceh residents to be more careful when using social media. It also raises awareness that such actions are unacceptable, thereby educating the public,” she said.

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