WUNRN
AFGHANISTAN - TEEN GIRL FLOGGED FOR
ALLEGED AFFAIR
AFP - September 16, 2012
A 16-year-old
Afghan girl has been flogged for allegedly having an affair and her purported
boyfriend fined $1500 in a rural district under government control, local
officials said Saturday.
The girl, who has been
named only as Sabera, is in poor health since the incident on September 9 in
Jaguri district of Ghazni province, said the head of the provincial women's
affairs department, Shukuria Wali.
The Taliban have
strongholds in Ghazni, but Jaguri is under government control and is dominated
by ethnic Hazaras, who are generally considered moderate by Afghan standards
and do not have strict tribal codes observed by Pashtuns, who dominate the
ranks of the Islamist militia.
"According to the
information we have, Sabera was first wrapped in a white cloth and then flogged
in front of village elders and family members. I have heard she is not in good
health," said Ms Wali.
The man who allegedly had
the affair with Sabera was fined 80,000 Afghanis ($1500), she said.
Jaghuri governor Zafar
Sharif confirmed the incident and said a government and rights delegation had
been sent to investigate.
Afghanistan is an
extremely conservative Muslim country, where unmarried girls are often confined
to the home and forbidden from maintaining any contact with men outside the
immediate family.
Public executions and
flogging of alleged adulterers were common under the 1996-2001 Taliban regime.
Although significant
progress has been made on women's rights since a US-led invasion brought down
the Taliban, many fear those gains are under threat as NATO troops leave and
Kabul seeks peace with Islamist insurgents.
In July, a 22-year-old
woman was shot dead for alleged adultery as dozens of men cheered in a village
in Parwan province, north of Kabul. The incident was captured in a horrific
video which drew international outrage. The Taliban denied any involvement.
Afghan
President Hamid Karzai condemned the execution as un-Islamic and unforgivable.