Fridae

A gay couple who were handed over to police by a vigilante mob earlier this year, were publicly flogged in the Indonesian province of Aceh, which follows Islamic Sharia law, this month.

The two men were flogged more than 80 times, as a crowd of more than 1,000 people hurled abuse at the pair, according to Agence France-Presse.

Despite an earlier pledge from government officials to desist in the punishment, the second public flogging of homosexuals went ahead, a sign of rampant and rising animosity toward LGBT in the country.

"Hopefully the flogging we're witnessing today will serve as a lesson for people not to violate sharia [Islamic law]," Banda Aceh official Tarmizi Yahya told AFP.

Although gay sex is not illegal elsewhere in Indonesia, there has been a severe backlash against the gay community in the last few years.

Gay sex is not illegal elsewhere in Indonesia, but there has been a backlash against the gay community in recent years.