<div>An Indonesian woman screamed in agony today as she was caned in Aceh, the latest in a growing number of women to be publicly flogged for breaking the province's strict Islamic laws.<br /><br />Aceh is the only province in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country that imposes sharia law. People can face floggings for a range of offences -- from gambling, to drinking alcohol, to gay sex.<br /><br />In the latest caning, five people -- two women and three men -- were flogged in front of a cheering crowd at a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh.<br /><br />The 34-year-old woman who yelled in pain had been found guilty of spending time in close proximity with a man who was not her husband in contravention of Aceh's Islamic regulations.<br /><br />She was lashed seven times with a rattan cane by a man wearing long robes and a hood, with just slits for the eyes.<br /><br />"It hurts so bad," the woman said, raising her arms into the air, as she was beaten.<br /><br />The 32-year-old man with whom she was caught was also flogged seven times.<br /><br />Two university students, both 19, received 100 lashes of the cane after they confessed to sex outside marriage. They stared at the ground as they were flogged, showing little emotion.<br /><br />A man found guilty of sex outside marriage was flogged 22 times although his partner, who is two-months pregnant, is still waiting to learn her fate after facing trial at an Islamic court.<br /><br />However Aceh authorities typically spare pregnant women from canings.<br /><br />Aceh, on Sumatra island, began implementing sharia law after being granted special autonomy in 2001, an attempt by the central government in Jakarta to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.<br /><br />Islamic laws have been strengthened since the province struck a peace deal with Jakarta in 2005, and there has been a particular increase in the number of women being caned in recent times.</div>
<div>An Indonesian woman screamed in agony today as she was caned in Aceh, the latest in a growing number of women to be publicly flogged for breaking the province's strict Islamic laws.<br /><br />Aceh is the only province in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country that imposes sharia law. People can face floggings for a range of offences -- from gambling, to drinking alcohol, to gay sex.<br /><br />In the latest caning, five people -- two women and three men -- were flogged in front of a cheering crowd at a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh.<br /><br />The 34-year-old woman who yelled in pain had been found guilty of spending time in close proximity with a man who was not her husband in contravention of Aceh's Islamic regulations.<br /><br />She was lashed seven times with a rattan cane by a man wearing long robes and a hood, with just slits for the eyes.<br /><br />"It hurts so bad," the woman said, raising her arms into the air, as she was beaten.<br /><br />The 32-year-old man with whom she was caught was also flogged seven times.<br /><br />Two university students, both 19, received 100 lashes of the cane after they confessed to sex outside marriage. They stared at the ground as they were flogged, showing little emotion.<br /><br />A man found guilty of sex outside marriage was flogged 22 times although his partner, who is two-months pregnant, is still waiting to learn her fate after facing trial at an Islamic court.<br /><br />However Aceh authorities typically spare pregnant women from canings.<br /><br />Aceh, on Sumatra island, began implementing sharia law after being granted special autonomy in 2001, an attempt by the central government in Jakarta to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.<br /><br />Islamic laws have been strengthened since the province struck a peace deal with Jakarta in 2005, and there has been a particular increase in the number of women being caned in recent times.</div>