Thaindian News

London, April 10 (IANS) A woman in Indonesia received nine lashes with a cane from the Sharia police for having an extramarital affair, a media report said Sunday.

Irdayanti Mukhtar, 34, is accused of having a relationship with another man, although she is said to be in the process of divorcing her husband, Daily Mail reported.

The punishment was meted out Friday in front of a crowd of 200 people outside the Al Munawwarah mosque in Jantho, Indonesia.

The jeering crowd recorded the brutal beating on their mobile phones and camcorders and shouted for more beatings in the strict Muslim city, the newspaper said.

Prosecutors said that she was guilty of being in ‘close proximity’ to another man. Under Sharia law the offence carries a maximum beating of nine strokes with a cane or a minimum of three.

Neighbours had seen Mukhtar with the man and had barged in on her while the couple were in her bedroom, although it is unclear what they were actually doing.

The mob then dragged them to the local police station to be charged. It is believed Sharia police are also probing a claim that Mukhtar was molested by the crowd before they took her to be charged.

Shortly after the caning Friday Mukhtar passed out and had to be taken to hospital for treatment. She was one of four people, including the man she was caught with, to be caned for extramarital affairs.