
This is the moment a couple accused of having sex before marriage were given 25 lashes as punishment under strict sharia law in place in Indonesia.

The couple was one of four pairs who were handed between 23 and 25 lashes after being found guilty of having sex outside of wedlock, which is forbidden under sharia.

The sentence was carried out in the city of Banda Aceh, at the tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island, the only place in the Muslim-majority country which recognises sharia as part of its official legal system.

Sharia, meaning 'the way', lays out guidelines for Muslims on how to live their daily lives. Divided into four parts, the most controversial deals with criminal punishment, and proscribing stoning for adulterers and the removal of a hand for theft.

A woman accused of having sex before marriage is given 25 lashes as punishment for her crimes in Banda Aceh, Indonesia

Aceh is the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia which has accepted sharia law into its official legal system

The woman was hooded and dressed in white before being led out on to a stage where she was beaten in front of a crowd

Sharia, which means 'the way', proscribes extreme forms of punishment for some crime - including whipping for blasphemy

The woman was one of four couples handed the punishment in the semi-autonomous province, which enforces sharia law

The man was also dressed in a white shirt while his punishment was carried out, though was allowed to stay standing

Under the state's sharia code, whippings must be carried out with a cane 'no bigger than the width of a small finger'