Widow purportedly punished for having sex with married man may still be caned for affair under sharia laws of Aceh province.
An Indonesian woman who was allegedly gang-raped as a punishment for sleeping with a married man may still be caned for the affair under the Islamic sharia laws of Aceh province, an official has said.
A group of eight men allegedly carried out the sex assault last week on the 25-year-old widow at her house in Langsa, and also beat up the man with whom she is accused of having an affair.
After the attack, which also saw the couple doused with sewage, the pair were handed over to sharia law officials.
The head of Langsa's Islamic sharia law office, Ibrahim Latif, said the man, 40, and woman still face up to nine lashes of the cane in public over the affair. He told AFP: "We want the couple to be caned for violating sharia law on adultery." He added that the rapists would also be brought to justice.
Police have arrested three suspected rapists, including a 13-year old boy, while five others are on the run.
Special police enforce Islamic law in Aceh, the only province in Indonesiathat has sharia. There is also a regular police force to enforce the criminal law for offences such as rape.
Aceh was granted the right to use Islamic law more than a decade ago in a bid to give the province more autonomy and end a long-running separatist insurgency.
More than 90% of Indonesians describe themselves as Muslims but most practise a moderate form of Islam.
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