A young Afghan woman who was married against her will has been stoned to death by villagers for eloping with another man.
Gruesome footage of her murder is circulating online. The woman, identified only as Rokhsahana, 19, is shown buried up to her neck in the ground as men hurl rocks at her from close range. Repeating the shahada, the Muslim profession of faith, her voice rises in terror as the stones begin to strike before the video cuts out.
The execution took place in a Taliban-held district of Afghanistan’s central Ghor province, raising fears that stoning is creeping back into areas controlled by the resurgent Islamist movement. The punishment, and the repression of women, was relatively common under the Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan before the American-led invasion of 2001.
Officials in Ghor province said that Rokhsahana’s execution was the third recent case of local women being flogged or stoned. “Rokhshana was engaged to an old man. She was not happy to marry and eloped with her lover,” Masooma Anwari, head of the women’s affairs department said.
“After they were arrested, the local people, Taliban and local religious clerics decided to stone the woman because she was married with another man.”
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Seema Juienda, the local governor, one of only two women to hold such a position in the country, called on government troops to retake the district before further incidents occured.
“This is the first incident in this area but will not be the last. Women in general have problems all over the country, but especially in Ghor,” Ms Juienda said.
“Girls under Taliban control, where the government has no access, face lots of problems like stoning and forced marriages. We request the president to clear those areas of Taliban, so that we won’t witness such atrocities against an innocent woman in the future.”
The Taliban has enjoyed a run of military success in recent weeks, striking out from its southern strongholds to capture new territory. Militants briefly seized the northern city of Kunduz last month, dealing a humiliating blow to the government of President Ghani. Islamist fighters have also struck cities in central and eastern Afghanistan, while affiliates of Islamic State have secured a foothold around Jalalabad.