Two Gay Men Caught Having Sex In Indonesia To Be Caned 80 Times

Two gay men who were caught having sex by a vigilante mob will be caned 80 times for breaking Sharia law in a strict Indonesian province. 

The pair, both in their early 20s, were found in bed together by a group of thugs who raided a boarding house in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh in late March.

Police later arrested the distressed couple, who said they were in a relationship and had had sex three times.

Prosecutor Gulmaini Wardani said they should receive 80 strokes of the cane for having homosexual sex - the first such punishment of a gay couple in the conservative province.

Wardani was speaking to journalists after a hearing at a special sharia court in Banda Aceh.

The hearing was closed to the public and the men's identities were not revealed due to the sensitivity of the case.

The father of one of the defendants, who requested anonymity, said he did not know his son was gay before he was caught.

'This is an ordeal for our family,' he said. 'After this problem is resolved, we will send him to an Islamic boarding school to be educated so he won't be deviant any more.'

The couple are believed to be the two men who were slapped by vigilantes who broke into their home and arrested them for having gay sex in a shocking video in March.

They were beaten and then taken to Wilayatul Hisbah, a Sharia police facility, after their arrest on March 28.