Flogging of two women in Afghanistan
From The Frontier Post on 19 February:
Officials and human right activists in western Ghor province have strongly condemned the public flogging of two women as an unlawful and immoral act. Governor’s office spokesman Abdul Hai Khatibi said the two women who were forcibly married in Dolina district ran away from their husbands’ houses a month back.
Police arrested the two in Chasht district of neighboring Herat province while wearing men’s dresses. The women were then handed over to their respective families by the police, said the gubernatorial spokesman.
In light of a decree issued by local clerics, Khatibi said, the two women were subjected to 45 lashes each in public. “This punishment was allowed by former local commanders and scholars,” he said. The Dolina district is a haven of illegal armed groups, who impose such brutal and unethical verdicts on people, he added…
Deputy Dolina police chief 1st corporal Jahan Shah said the two women were punished by a former jihadi commander named Fazl Ahad… This reporter could not reach Fazl Ahad for his comments. Acting high court chief in Ghor Attaullah Tamkin said any decision made outside the court was illegal. He said those responsible for the flogging were criminals and should be arrested and tried.
