By Rukhshana Media
A young couple in Afghanistan’s central Ghor province was accused of having sexual relations outside of marriage, and the pair were dealt a harsh punishment by a Taliban kangaroo court: 80 lashes, in public.
The whipping took place on October 8 in the “Deh Mordeh” area of Dawlat Yar district of Ghor province, a civil activist from the district confirmed to Rukhshana Media.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the man and woman were each whipped 40 times.
“The young man and woman came from Herat province to Dawlat Yar district, where they were identified by the Taliban and were sentenced to whipping,” the source said.
After they received the lashes, the so-called Taliban court married them.
Another source from Ghor, who also spoke on condition of anonymity due to the security threats he has received, said the Taliban lashed the couple because the woman had not spent sufficient time apart from her husband after separating. In Islamic custom, women are required to wait for three months and 10 days after separating from their first husband in order to make sure they are not pregnant before they can rearry.
Hassan Hakimi, a human rights activist from Ghor province who is no longer in Afghanistan, also confirmed the incident and told Rukhshana Media that the couple went to Dawlat Yar district a week ago, where the suspected man lives. “The Taliban arrested them for eloping and they whipped them in public” said Mr. Hakimi.
Taliban officials in Ghor province have not commented on the incident.
Ghor province has a long history of kangaroo courts in which men and women have been sentenced to whipping and even death by stoning. In 2015, a kangaroo court in Ghor province stoned 19-year-old Rukhshana to death, for alleged adultery.
