A women in Afghanistan was stoned to death by the Taliban . It really did shock me that such system could still possibly exist

A women in Afghanistan was stoned to death by the Taliban . It really did shock me that such system could still possibly exist !

Are we still living in the middle ages ?

Local official Mohammad Zaman Azimi, in a previous report, credited the killing to Taliban militants.

The 19-year-old woman, Rokhshana, was stoned to death after she was accused of having pre-wedding relations with her fiance, a 23-year-old man named Mohammad Gul, who was reported to have been lashed.

It was unclear why the young woman would be punished more severely, though Taliban and Islamic courts in the past have treated men more leniently.

Azimi went on to say that the stoning took place in the village of Ghalmin on the outskirts of Firoz Koh, the provincial capital.

The couple is said to have eloped from their families in a bid to find a place to get wedded.

Single women in Afghanistan are often kept under house arrest and deprived of contact with men other than their immediate families.

Rapid punishments often await Afghan women and girls who defy the social norm.

The death penalty by stoning for convicted adulterers is illegal according to Afghan law, but adulterers are given long prison sentences. The penal code, initiated in 1976, does not leave any provision for stoning.

The Constitution of Afghanistan requires "no law can be in opposition to the provisions and beliefs of the sacred religion of Islam" and, at times, appears to be opposed to more liberal and democratic elements of it.

Capital punishment was practiced by the Taliban regime, which ruled much of the country from 1996-2001, when convicted adulterers were commonly shot or stoned in those executions that were conducted in massive public spectacles convened in front of thousands of spectators.

In rural areas, where the Taliban insurgents have considerable influence, there are Afghans who go to Taliban courts to settle disputes, since most people view government institutions as corrupt or untrustworthy. The Taliban courts employ strict adherence to understandings of Shari'a law, which demands punishments such as stoning and executions.

Both men and women who have been convicted of having an extramarital affair or a pre-marital relationship are sentenced to death in most Taliban-held areas, or publicly flogged otherwise.

The Taliban are typically held responsible for the punishments by Afghan authorities.

There have been sporadic reports of Afghan stonings but no definite evidence since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

There have been reports of other severe punishments being handed out, however, apparently in line with rigorous interpretations of Islam.

In a high-profile case, in 2012, a 16-year-old girl in the western city of Herat was flogged and then murdered along with her suspected boyfriend. Continue reading