A gay couple was publicly whipped in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province Friday, despite an earlier pledge by officials to stop the punishment after it drew international criticism. The two men were flogged more than 80 times each for having gay sex, which is outlawed under local Islamic law, as a jeering crowd hurled abuse at them.

They were among 15 people whipped outside a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh on Friday for crimes including drinking or selling alcohol and showing affection in public. A crowd of about 1,000 people, including tourists from neighboring Malaysia, snapped pictures and shouted "flog them harder" as a hooded figure rained down lashes from a rattan cane on their backs.

The unidentified men were the second gay couple whipped in public this year in Aceh, underscoring the increasing discrimination faced by Indonesia's small LGBT community.

"Hopefully the flogging we're witnessing today will serve as a lesson for people not to violate sharia (Islamic law)," said Banda Aceh official Tarmizi Yahya.

Few in the crowd appeared to have much sympathy. "I don't think they're being serious about the flogging—it looks like they are just playing around," said Bukhari, a fisherman who came to watch with his wife.

The gay men whipped on Friday were apprehended by a vigilante mob at a Banda Aceh beauty salon earlier this year and handed over to police, authorities said.