A Shariah law enforcer whips one of two men convicted of gay sex during a public caning outside a mosque in Banda Aceh, Aceh province Indonesia, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. Two men in the province were publicly caned dozens of times Tuesday for consensual sex, a punishment that intensifies an anti-gay backlash and which rights advocates denounced as "mediaeval torture." (AP Photo)BANDA ACEH, Indonesia -- Two men in Indonesia's Aceh province were publicly caned dozens of times Tuesday for consensual gay sex, a punishment that intensifies an anti-gay backlash in the world's most populous Muslim country and which rights advocates denounced as “mediaeval torture." Banda Aceh resident Ibrahim Muhayat said far more people attended the publicly meted-out punishment than usual because like him, many wanted to witness Indonesia's first-ever caning of gay men. Prejudice has been fanned by stridently anti-gay comments from politicians and Islamic hard-liners, and a case before the country's top court is seeking to criminalize gay sex and sex outside marriage.

Source: Bangkok Post May 23, 2017 07:07 UTC