Sharia court flogs four women for gambling

Sharia court flogs four women for gambling

An Islamic sharia court in the staunchly-Muslim province of Aceh on Friday ordered four women to be flogged for petty gambling offenses.

The public lashing was the second since the government allowed the tsunami-ravaged province to implement religious law as part of broader autonomy granted in 2001 to curb a separatist Islamist insurgency.

The four women were found guilty of gambling by the court on Thursday and flogged on a covered podium erected next to a mosque in Takengon, Central Aceh, after Friday noon prayers.

The four women, who were dressed in white and sitting on the floor, were each given between six and seven lashes.

The flogging was the first involving women but the second ordered recently for gambling offenses in Aceh. The four women were found guilty of playing cards for small amounts of money.

In May, seven men also found guilty of playing cards for money were publicly lashed in Aceh's Bireuen district.

Aceh has so far only partially implemented the strict Islamic laws, enforcing Muslim dress codes and other sharia requirements such as five daily prayers, fasting and alms-giving.

All gambling is illegal in Indonesia.

Separatist rebels in the province last week signed a peace accord with the government, paving the way for an end to a conflict which has claimed some 15,000 lives since 1976. --AFP