Two men, aged 20 and 21, were publicly caned in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, after an Islamic Shariah court found them guilty of violating Islamic law by hugging and kissing. The court ruled these actions could lead to banned sexual relations.

The caning, which involved officials in robes and hoods whipping the men across their backs with a rattan cane, took place on a stage in Bustanussalatin city park in Banda Aceh, witnessed by approximately 100 people. The men received 80 strikes each, a sentence that was slightly reduced from the prosecutors' initial request of 85, and further decreased by four lashes for the four months they had been detained.

Islamic religious police arrested the pair in April after residents reported them entering a public park bathroom, where they were found kissing and hugging; they had made contact via an online dating app. Aceh is the sole Indonesian province where Shariah law is observed, permitting up to 100 lashes for morality offenses, including gay sex and sex between unmarried individuals. This incident marks the fifth public caning for homosexuality-related cases in Aceh since the implementation of Islamic law in 2006. Amnesty International condemned the punishment as "a disturbing act of state-sanctioned discrimination and cruelty," while a local resident hoped it would deter future violations.