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Afghanistan woman stoned for 'adultery'

November 3, 2015

A young woman has been stoned to death for adultery in a Taliban-controlled area of Afghanistan, while the man was let off with a lashing, officials say. The execution, captured on video, went viral on social media.

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Image: Getty Images/AFP/W. Kohsar

The authorities identified the woman as Rokhsahana, adding she was between 19 and 21 years old.

A video of the incident shows a woman standing in a hole, while turbaned men throw stones at her head. The woman is heard repeating the shahada, or Muslim profession of faith, while her executioners shout "Allah hu Akbar."

The video first made rounds on social networks on late Monday, but the officials believe that the execution happened several days earlier, in the area controlled by the Taliban just outside Ghor's capital Firozkoh.

Rokhsahana was stoned by a gathering of "Taliban, local religious leaders and armed warlords," a spokesman for Ghor's Governor Seema Joyenda told the AFP news agency.

"This is the first incident in this area (this year) but will not be the last," said Joyenda, who is one of only two female governors in Afghanistan. "Women in general have problems all over the country, but in Ghor even more conservative attitudes prevail," she added.

Officials in Afghanistan's Ghor province condemned the stoning and asked the Kabul government to "clean the area" on Tuesday.

Outside Kabul's reach

According to information obtained by the governor's office, Rokhsahana's family married off the girl against her will, prompting her to try to elope with another man. However, other officials claim that the local elders found Rokhsahana guilty of having sex with her fiancé.

The tribal council sentenced her lover to a lashing.

The police chief in Ghor, Mustafa Mohseni, said little could be done at this stage. "The government will follow-up on the incident, once the area comes under our authority," he said.

The Taliban have not yet commented on the stoning.

Another video, recorded in September, appeared to show a woman being lashed after a local court on Ghor found her guilty of sex outside marriage. The man she was with was punished in similar way.

A woman was lynched and set ablaze in the capital Kabul in March, after the mob falsely accused her of burning a copy of the Koran.

dj/jm (AFP, dpa)