KABUL – The Taliban’s Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that two women and five men were publicly flogged in separate incidents across the provinces of Takhar, Kunar, and Jawzjan.
According to the court, a man and a woman were flogged in Khwaja Bahauddin district of Takhar province on charges of “running away from home, aiding escape, and having illicit relations.” Each received 39 lashes.
In a separate case, a man was flogged on Monday in Nurgal district of Kunar province after being convicted of sodomy. He received 39 lashes and was sentenced to two months in prison.
The court also reported that on Saturday, a woman and three men were publicly flogged in Qush Tepa district of Jawzjan province for “illicit relations,” with each receiving 25 lashes under a ruling by the local primary court.
This marks the latest in a growing wave of public corporal punishments since the Taliban regained power in 2021. According to local reports, at least 47 people, including several women, have been flogged in public across different provinces this week alone.
The United Nations and human rights organizations have strongly condemned these practices, calling them inhuman and a violation of international law. They have raised concerns about the lack of due process, fair trials, and legal representation for those accused.
Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, warned that public punishments have sharply increased in 2025, reiterating calls for an immediate end to corporal punishment.
The Taliban, however, defend the practice as an implementation of Islamic Sharia law and accuse critics of opposing Islamic principles.
