<p>A gay couple were flogged in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province Thursday, justice officials said, in a public spectacle lambasted by human rights groups.</p>.<p>The two men were whipped nearly 80 times each for having gay sex, which is outlawed in Aceh province under local Islamic law.</p>.<p>The pair, who were not identified, winced in pain and pleaded for the whipping to stop, as a masked sharia officer beat their backs with a rattan stick.</p>.<p>The punishment was briefly halted and the men, both in their twenties, were allowed a drink of water before it continued.</p>.<p>The mother of one man fainted at the sight of her son being whipped.</p>.<p>"Islamic sharia enforcement is final, no matter who it is, and even visitors must respect local norms," public order official Heru Triwijanarko told AFP.</p>.<p>The men were arrested in November at a rental home where a landlord found them half-naked in their room.</p>.<p>Gay sex is not illegal elsewhere in Indonesia and Aceh is the only region in the world's biggest Muslim nation that imposes the Sharia law.</p>.<p>In Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, public flogging is a common punishment for a range of offences that include gambling, drinking alcohol and adultery.</p>.<p>Four others were whipped between 17 and 40 times on the same day over allegations they drank alcohol or met with members of the opposite sex.</p>.<p>Human rights groups slam public caning as cruel, and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has called for it to end.</p>.<p>But it has strong support among Aceh's population.</p>.<p>The region started using religious law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001, an attempt by the central government to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.</p>
<p>A gay couple were flogged in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province Thursday, justice officials said, in a public spectacle lambasted by human rights groups.</p>.<p>The two men were whipped nearly 80 times each for having gay sex, which is outlawed in Aceh province under local Islamic law.</p>.<p>The pair, who were not identified, winced in pain and pleaded for the whipping to stop, as a masked sharia officer beat their backs with a rattan stick.</p>.<p>The punishment was briefly halted and the men, both in their twenties, were allowed a drink of water before it continued.</p>.<p>The mother of one man fainted at the sight of her son being whipped.</p>.<p>"Islamic sharia enforcement is final, no matter who it is, and even visitors must respect local norms," public order official Heru Triwijanarko told AFP.</p>.<p>The men were arrested in November at a rental home where a landlord found them half-naked in their room.</p>.<p>Gay sex is not illegal elsewhere in Indonesia and Aceh is the only region in the world's biggest Muslim nation that imposes the Sharia law.</p>.<p>In Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, public flogging is a common punishment for a range of offences that include gambling, drinking alcohol and adultery.</p>.<p>Four others were whipped between 17 and 40 times on the same day over allegations they drank alcohol or met with members of the opposite sex.</p>.<p>Human rights groups slam public caning as cruel, and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has called for it to end.</p>.<p>But it has strong support among Aceh's population.</p>.<p>The region started using religious law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001, an attempt by the central government to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.</p>