KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban publicly flogged a man and a woman in Afghanistan’s northern Sar-e-Pol province on charges of “illicit relationship,” the regime’s supreme court announced.
According to a statement released by the court, the individuals were lashed 10 times on Sunday in the presence of local authorities and the public. Additionally, they were sentenced to three months in prison by the provincial court.
This incident adds to a growing pattern of public punishments since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. In February alone, at least 83 people, including 18 women, were subjected to public floggings across Afghanistan.
Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, recorded at least 311 cases of corporal punishment in the second half of 2024, including 47 women. His report highlighted a 22% increase compared to the first half of the year.
Human rights organizations, the United Nations, and activists have strongly condemned these practices, describing them as violations of fundamental human rights and methods to instill fear in the Afghan population.
The Taliban, however, defends these actions as the enforcement of Sharia law, accusing critics of misinterpreting or opposing Islam.
