Cowering teen lashed 50 times in front of cheering mob… for dating man

She was accused of "spending time alone” with a 21-year-old man, who was also punished alongside her in the nation’s Aceh province on Tuesday.

A hooded official lashed the 19-year-old with a rattan cane next to a mosque in Banda Aceh, the capital of the Sumatra province.

The pair were among 18 people publicly punished for breaking the province’s strict implementation of the law.

They were caught spending time alone together, which is against the law for unmarried Muslim couples in the province.

Public caning is a popular punishment in Aceh, which is the only region in the world’s most populated Muslim-majority country to implement Sharia law.

The province began implementing the law in 2001, after it was granted special autonomy in a move by the central government to quash a long-running separatist insurgency.

Islamic laws have also been strengthened since Banda Aceh struck a peace deal with the central government in 2005.

In February, local officials banned Valentine’s Day celebrations, deeming giving cards or chocolates an "unlawful act” under Sharia law.

The province banned women from entertainment venues after 11pm unless they are accompanied by a husband or male family member, earlier this year.

In 2015, a district in Aceh enacted a bylaw requiring schools to teach boys and girls separately, while another banned women from straddling motorcycles when riding with a driver.

(dailystar.co.uk)