Herizal bin Yunus, 27, collapsed after being struck eight times in a public flogging. Once revived and checked by attending healthcare professionals he was subsequently caned a further 14 times.
Yunus hails from the province of Bandah Aceh on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the only province in the country that imposes strict Sharia law, reports AFP. He was one of eight people flogged on Monday for breach of Islamic law.
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He was being punished for the crime of having sex outside of marriage and was sentenced to be flogged a total of 22 times by a local court. The punishment was carried out by a religious official dressed head to toe in a hooded cloak.
Aceh was granted special autonomy by the Indonesian state in 2005 as a means for Jakarta to quell the separatist movement that had gathered momentum in the province and the strictest form of Islamic law has been imposed ever since, according to the Jakarta Post.
Authorities caned 339 people in 2016, the first full calendar in which Sharia law was in full effect, according to Human Rights Watch. People can be flogged for a variety of crimes ranging from gambling and consuming alcohol to sexual offences.
