By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
February 22, 2022
A man accused of adultery has been publicly whipped by the Taliban in Afghanistan’s southern Uruzgan Province.
Several residents of provincial capital Tarin Kowt told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi that the man was flogged in the city’s central square on February 21 in the morning.
Tarin Kowt resident Noor Agha, who witnessed the public flogging, told Radio Azadi that the Taliban brought a man to the town square in a military vehicle.
They later announced the man’s name and location over loudspeakers, saying they had arrested him in the Chora district for allegedly having extramarital sexual relations with a woman.
According to Agha, the Taliban said the “public punishment is meant as a lesson.”
Sultan Muhammad, a 65-year-old eyewitness, told Radio Azadi about the humiliation of the victim.
“The accused was humiliated, and I do not think he would be able to live a dignified life like anyone else in society after this,” Muhammad said.
Photos and videos obtained by Radio Azadi show hundreds of people attended the flogging.
Such public punishments were common during the Taliban’s previous period in power from 1996 to 2001. But this is the first time since the militant group regained power in August that they meted out such a punishment in public.
No information was available about the fate of the woman allegedly involved in the case.