Widow Gang-Raped As Punishment For Adultery, She Also Faces Public Caning

Revolting stories about violence against women are seen everywhere online, but this one about a widow gang-raped in Indonesia tops them all. A 25-year-old widow was gang-raped by a group of vigilantes because they were punishing her for having sex with a married man. If that wasn’t enough, Islamic religious police plan to cane the woman publicly.

Jakarta Globe reports that eight men, including a 13-year-old boy, gang-raped the widow when she was caught Wednesday having sexual relations with a 40-year-old man. The group of vigilantes burst into the widow’s home and did horrible things to the couple. They tied up the man, viciously beat him, and gang-raped the widow. When they were done, they poured raw sewage over the couple and took them to Sharia police.

Since the widow’s home was in Aceh, the vigilantes felt justified in what they did. JG reports that Aceh is the only province enforcing Sharia law — a religious bylaw against having sexual relations. Ibrahim Latif, the head of Sharia police in the town of Langsa, said the couple should be caned in public.

“We want the couple caned because they violated the religious bylaw on sexual relations,” Latif said. He went on to say that the widow and her lover had “confessed to having sex on several previous occasions.”

The gang-raped widow and the man she had sex with will get 9 cane lashes in public. It was noted in the report that since the horrific acts suffered by the woman happened after the adultery, it won’t lessen the severity of the Sharia punishment. No date for when the caning will be carried out has been revealed.

Although the provincial head of Nahdlatul Ulama said the vigilantes should be punished in both criminal and religious courts for their actions, the caning for the widow and man was still condoned.

“The punishment for the mob that raped the victim must be much harsher because they have set back efforts to uphold Shariah in Aceh,” said Teungku Faisal Ali, leader of the Aceh Islamist group.

So far the two men and the teenager have been arrested in the gang-rape of the young widow. Sharia police are urging the other five rapists to surrender.

More than 90 percent of Indonesians are Muslims, but they practice a moderate form of Islam.

Too many stories like these have dominated headlines, as another Inquisitr article reported on. Far too much violence globally is used against women as a whole.

The widow gang-raped in this story has endured the unimaginable. She paid a high price for “violating” a religious bylaw in this part of the world.

[Image via Daily Mail]