Shocking! See Unmarried Couples Humiliated and Flogged in Public (Photos)

The woman cried while she was being brutally whipped 

Three young couples were savagely whipped and disgraced in public for violating Sharia law. Pictures of one woman crying out as she is repeatedly lashed with a cane at Al Furqon Mosque in the city of Banda Aceh, Indonesia has sent many to express sadness over the incident.

The unmarried couples are alleged to have gone on a date. Separate images show a man standing as he received the same brutal punishment.

Dailymail reports that three Acehnese couples were sentenced to receive public lashes for violating Sharia law in a brutal new crackdown in the region.

Under the law men and women, who are not spouses, are not allowed to get too close due to the 'khalwat' offence - and punishment is by public caning.

Aceh is the only province in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country that is allowed to implement Islamic Sharia law.