Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 24, 2025

ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s hard-line Taliban authorities publicly flogged 20 men and women Monday on charges of adultery, rape, and engaging in “illegitimate relations.”

The Taliban’s Supreme Court reported that all defendants received sentences of 39 lashes each and prison terms ranging from one to seven years.

The punishments were carried out in the eastern Khost and central Parwan provinces, with residents, judicial, and government officials among the spectators.

Since regaining control of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have publicly flogged hundreds of men and women. Most were charged with offenses such as adultery, sodomy, eloping, having illegitimate relations and robbery.

The number of Afghans subjected to flogging this month alone has reached 86, with 17 women among the victims, according to data from the top court.

The United Nations has condemned corporal punishment being conducted by the Taliban as a violation of international law and human dignity, calling for the practice to be halted immediately.

The Taliban government, which is not recognized by any country, defends its criminal justice system and overall governance by stating that they are aligned with Islamic law or Sharia and dismissing foreign criticism as misguided.

The de facto Afghan leaders have placed sweeping restrictions on women’s access to education and employment, effectively erasing most of them from public life in Afghanistan and drawing persistent calls from the U.N. to reverse what it condemns as “gender-apartheid.”