On patrol with Indonesia's Sharia Law police

The job of the Sharia Police is to make sure the Acehnese adhere to recently-passed laws banning women from wearing tight trousers to ensuring that those who commit adultery will be stoned.

The BBC recently sent one of its reporters on a night patrol with the Sharia law police in the Indonesian province of Ache. Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation with just over 221 million people, 86 percent which are Muslim. Although secular, Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. Most Muslims in the country are modern and moderate, and Indonesia's constitution recognises five official religions including Buddhism and Christianity. But Aceh has special autonomy, and one of the ways it has defined itself as different from the rest of the country is through the implementation of Sharia law and the advent of the religious police, known as the Sharia police. Reuters has also done a similar piece on the hunt for immoral activities in Ache. To date no women have been stoned to death.