Kneeling on the ground, facing the floor as she prepares for her punishment, this woman is the latest victim of Indonesia's strict Islamic rules.

The 20-year-old was forced to undergo a public caning today after being caught standing too close to her boyfriend in Banda Aceh province.

Under Islamic Sharia law, unmarried couples are forbidden from becoming too intimate.

And after being accused of breaking the rules, she was brought to a stage outside a mosque after being escorted by two women and forced to kneel on the ground.

She was then given her punishment of being lashed across the back with a cane.

The brutal images come just a week after another young woman was also publicly flogged in front of a jeering crowd for the same so-called offence as caning reportedly spike in the Indonesian province.

The unidentified woman screamed out in pain as she was caned 23 times after also being accused of becoming to close to a man.

Banda Aceh is the only province in Indonesia that enforces Sharia law and people face floggings for a range of offences, including gambling, drinking alcohol and gay sex.

That day, she was one of 13 people - aged between 21-30 - to be flogged at the mosque.

A total of six couples were found guilty of breaking Islamic law that bans intimacy - no touching, hugging and kissing - between unmarried people.

One man was even caned for spending time with a member of the opposite sex in a private location, which could lead to adultery.

One of the offenders, a 22-year-old pregnant woman, was not flogged but was warned the punishment will be enforced after she has given birth.

The increase in floggings of women, also comes after Nur Elita was marched to the yard of Baiturrahumim Mosque in Banda Aceh at the end of last year and received five lashes.

Ms Elita keeled over in pain at the end of her lashings as she had to be carried off stage and taken to hospital.
She received her harsh floggings for getting to close to a fellow university student - who was also whipped.