Unmarried but consenting adults engaging in fornication really grinds the gears of many “moral” conservatives in Indonesia for some reason, and in some parts of Indonesia it’s actually quite common for those who are caught to be paraded around as a form of public shaming and punishment (or flogged in public if we’re talking about Aceh). But while such incidents usually only occur in rural areas, the latest such incident occurred closer to home in the regency of Tangerang.
Yesterday, residents of Tegal Murni Village in Tangerang’s Balaraja District paraded a couple of adulterers, identified as 30-year-old D and 19-year-old L, around the village. According to locals, they caught the couple breaking society’s rules by, ironically, breaking the actual law and trespassing onto private property.
“We grew suspicious, after they entered [the house] they shut all windows and locked them. This was not the first time,” said local resident Satria, as quoted by Okezone yesterday.
A mob of locals then broke into the house and found D and L in a state of undress making love to one another. This they could not let stand, so they stood them up and took them outside.
“The locals then paraded the couple so that no one else would commit adultery in this village,” Satria said.
Not only that, the mob also beat D with their bare hands as additional punishment. It’s not clear what injuries he suffered.
Balaraja District Police Chief Wiwin confirmed the incident took place, and said that police officers secured the couple from the mob’s wrath.
Under Indonesia’s Criminal Code, adultery committed by married couples is a crime, provided that the one who was cheated on reports their spouse to the authorities (though some regions exercise stricter by-laws that could criminalize all forms of sex outside marriage). However, some Islamic conservative groups are petitioning the Constitutional Court to make all sex outside marriage illegal nationwide, to which the government has recently argued that such a law would infringe on people’s rights to privacy so it cannot be passed.
