AFP - A
city in Indonesia's Islamic law stronghold of Aceh will ban women from
straddling male drivers on motorbikes, its mayor said on Wednesday, dubbing the
position "improper".
The move
comes after leaders from the country's only province ruled by strict sharia law
drafted a series of new bills including banning women from wearing tight
trousers, stoning adulterers and flogging homosexuals.
Acehnese women ride a motorcycle down a street in Banda Aceh on January 2, 2013. |
"Women
sitting on motorbikes must not sit astride because it will provoke the male
driver. It's also to protect women from an undesirable condition," mayor
Suaidi Yahya told AFP.
"It's
improper for women to sit astride. We implement Islamic law here."
Women are
allowed to straddle motorbikes if they are driving, as long as they are dressed
"in a Muslim way", Yahya said.
The mayor
plans to publicise the ban in coming weeks and will discuss sanctions with
local Muslim clerics before issuing a formal regulation.
Indonesia
is the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation, but most practice a moderate
form of Islam.
Aceh began
implementing sharia law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001. The
province now regularly canes people caught gambling or drinking alcohol.
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“… No person shall be forced into marriage against his or her will. No woman shall be forced to bear or not bear children, against her will. No person shall be forced to hold or not hold views or worship in a manner contrary to his or her choice. Nothing vital to existence shall be withheld from another if it is within the community’s power to give. …”
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