
A man and a woman have been publicly caned in Indonesia's deeply conservative Aech province after being caught having sex before marriage.

The couple were marched on to a stage in front of a crowd in the city of Jantho, around 36 miles from provincial capital Banda Aech, before being flogged.

The beating was carried out despite a pledge by Aech governor Irwandi Yusuf to only carry out the punishment inside prisons and away from the eyes of the public.

Guards wince as a woman is administered lashes in the city of Jantho, around 36 miles south of provincial capital Banda Aech, after being caught having sex before marriage

The man and woman were marched up on to a small platform before being beaten with a cane in front of journalists, military officials and a small crowd of onlookers which had gathered

Yusuf said he would issue a decree so that caning would be carried out inside prisons and the public and media allowed to witness but not record images or videos. He also said children would no longer be allowed to witness corporal punishment.

Previously, public caning has been livestreamed and uploaded on the Internet, drawing international criticism.

Erwin Desman, head of the Banda Aceh prosecutors' office, said it had not received any paperwork ordering public canings to stop and called for the issue to be reexamined.

'There are pros and cons for this in society. So we suggest we sit with the governor again (to discuss this),' he told reporters, adding that caning would continue to be held in public for now.

Aech province, in Indonesia, is the only province of the world's most populous Muslim country to impose Sharia punishments