Raped Acehnese woman may suffer caning under sharia law
A 25-year-old woman is at risk of being caned under Aceh's sharia law, despite being a victim of gang rape at her home in Langsa.
“She could be caned if investigators find she and her companion violated the qanun [Islamic bylaw] on close proximity, or khalwat,” Langsa Islamic Sharia Agency head Ibrahim Latif said.
The Aceh provincial administration has imposed the Qanun Acara Jinayat, a sharia-based criminal code that stipulates rules and punishments governing behaviour according to Islamic law.
The code applies to everybody in the province, including non-Muslims.
Qanun No 14/2003 stipulates offenders will be caned three times at a minimum and nine times at a maximum, or be required to pay a fine of between 2.5 million rupiah (about Bt7,000) and 10 million rupiah.
For the woman in question, there is no qanun that carries a punishment for rape.
“Since Aceh does not yet have a qanun on rape, the perpetrators will be charged under the Criminal Code,” Latif said.
The rape allegedly took place in the victim’s home at around 1am on May 1. She was apparently with a married man at the time and was being watched by nine villagers, who later entered the house, tied up her companion and put him in a cupboard, before taking turns to rape the woman.
The rapists then handed the man and woman over to the village chief, who then handed them over to sharia police. After providing advice and counselling, the sharia police eventually released the woman and her companion.
The Langsa City Police arrested three of the suspected rapists, but released one soon after as he was not found to have committed the crime.
According to the Langsa City police chief, the investigation of the case will be divided into two stages: investigation into act of rape, including the victim, and an investigation in terms of sharia law, under which the victim and her companion will be suspected of an indecent act.
Women activists have urged the administration to handle the case fairly, saying the rapists must be punished.
An activist at the Balai Syura Ureung Inong Aceh, Norma Manalu, said committing rape in the name of sharia law was completely inappropriate and ran against true Islamic values.
“Today, the people have taken the law into their own hands,” she pointed out.
