LGBT rights: Indonesia's Aceh flogs two men for having sex

The men winced in pain as they were beaten in front of a crowd in the capital Banda Aceh

Two men have been publicly caned in the conservative Indonesian province of Aceh for having sex.

The pair each received 77 lashes from a masked officer in front of a crowd in the capital Banda Aceh.

They were reported by neighbours back in November.

Aceh is the only region of Indonesia that imposes Islamic law. Four others were also whipped for offences that included gambling, drinking alcohol and meeting members of the opposite sex.

• No place left to hide for Aceh's gay people

The two men, aged 27 and 29, winced in pain as they were whipped by robed and masked enforcers who lashed the men on their backs with a rattan stick.

The punishment was briefly halted and the men, both in their twenties, were allowed a drink of water before it continued, the AFP news agency reports.

The mother of one man fainted at the sight of her son being whipped.

On the same day a woman and man were each given 20 lashes for being caught in close proximity to each other, and two men were given 40 lashes each for getting drunk.

A woman received 20 lashes for mixing inappropriately with a man

"Islamic sharia enforcement is final, no matter who it is, and even visitors must respect local norms," public order official Heru Triwijanarko told AFP.

This is believed to be the third time gay men have been caned in Aceh since Islamic laws outlawing homosexuality were introduced in 2015.

Homosexuality is not illegal anywhere else in majority-Muslim Indonesia, but Aceh was granted the right to practise Sharia law as part of a peace deal with the Indonesian government in 2006 to end a decades-long separatist war.

At the time, Acehnese political leaders promised the law would not affect religious minorities and would respect international human rights.

However it has become an increasingly strict code and the Sharia police have been accused of human rights violations and abuse of power.