Couple publicly flogged in Indonesia for kiss recorded on TikTok

A young couple in Indonesia's Aceh province received public caning as punishment after a video of them kissing during a TikTok live stream went viral. The 22-year-old man and 25-year-old woman were each lashed 21 times in a public park in Banda Aceh.

Initially sentenced to 25 lashes for violating the "ihtilat" offense under Aceh's Islamic criminal code, which prohibits intimate relations between unmarried individuals, their sentence was reduced due to time spent in detention. The incident gained significant attention after the February live stream footage circulated widely on social media.

The couple was among six individuals publicly punished on the same day following final verdicts from the Banda Aceh Sharia Court. Two other men also received public caning, with each being lashed 28 times for offenses related to intimate behavior.

Aceh, which holds a special autonomous status within Indonesia, is the only province where Islamic criminal law is applied alongside the predominantly secular national legal system. This autonomy was granted in the early 2000s after a long separatist conflict.

Public caning remains one of the most controversial aspects of Aceh's legal system. Human rights organizations regularly condemn the practice, deeming it humiliating and incompatible with international standards.