By By Promise Eze
On Tuesday Indonesian lawmakers unanimously passed a sweeping new criminal code that criminalizes sex outside marriage.
The world’s largest Muslim-majority nation said the law would also affect both residents and tourists.
Sex outside marriage will carry a jail term of up to a year under the new laws, which take effect in three years.
Interestingly, indonesia isn’t the first country to have banned sex outside marriage. Here are some of them:
1. Qatar
In Qatar, islamic legal tradition classifies sex outside of marriage, pregnancy out of wedlock, and adultery as crimes that are punishable by imprisonment of up to one year.
Unmarried offenders may receive an additional penalty of flogging while married Muslims may be sentenced to death by stoning.
2. Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is also one of the countries where pre-marital sex is illegal based on the Zina laws. The term Zina signifies voluntary sexual intercourse between a man and a woman not married to one another.
Flogging is a common punishment for the crime.
However, in Suadi Arabia, the authority requires four respectable people that witnessed the actual act of penetration.
3. Afghanistan
In August 2010, a young couple was stoned to death by hundreds of villagers in Kunduz Province of northern Afghanistan for pre-marital sex.
The country which presently fell under the control of the Taliban punishes pre-marital sex and adultery by stoning the accused to death.
4. Pakistan
Premarital sex and adultery are crimes under the Hudood Ordinances, which sets a maximum penalty of death for adultery.
However, imprisonment and corporal punishment have been the most serious punishments imposed for the offence to date.
5. Sudan
Under the country’s Sharia law, premarital sex and adultery are punishable by stoning the accused to death.
6. Malaysia
In 2009, 26 unmarried Muslim couples were arrested in hotel rooms during Operation Valentine. The following year, three Malaysian women were caned for having sex outside marriage.
Legislation in Malaysia makes it illegal for unmarried Muslims to meet behind closed doors or engage in premarital sex, under the threat of up to six months in prison.
Sharia laws apply to Muslims, who account for nearly two-thirds of Malaysia’s population, in all personal matters. However, non-Muslims are covered by civil laws and are not subject to Islamic courts.
Promise Eze is a creative writer and can be reached via [email protected].
