Azriana, 43, still vividly remembers her high school days in North Aceh in the early 1990s. There was no requirement for women to wear headscarves then. Like students outside Aceh, Azriana and other female students wore short dresses. "No one had a problem with it back then," she told Tempo in July.

But the situation changed in 1999. Aceh obtained special authorization to fully apply Islamic law or sharia. Qanun Syariah or regulations based on Isl