By Promise Eze
Premarital sex would be punishable by up to a year in jail under a new criminal code that the Indonesian Parliament is expected to approve, according to local media sources.
In the upcoming days, the Parliament is expected to pass the Draft Criminal Code (RKUHP).
“Anyone who has intercourse with someone who is not their husband or wife shall be punished for adultery with a maximum imprisonment of 1 (one) year or a maximum fine of category II,” reads article 413, paragraph 1.
However, if the spouse of the adulterer or the parents of their unmarried children file a complaint, the law will go into effect.
Furthermore, according to Article 144, complaints may be withdrawn before the trial court’s examination even starts.
Cohabitation before marriage is also prohibited, according to Reuters, along with insulting the president or state institutions and expressing any opinions that are at odds with Indonesia’s national ideology.
The country with the largest proportion of Muslims in the world, Indonesia, has numerous local laws that discriminate against LGBT people, women, and religious minorities.
