In a first official confirmation that the Taliban resorted to strict implementation of Islamic law, the Supreme Court said that nineteen people in northeastern Afghanistan were lashed for adultery, theft and running away from home.
A Supreme Court official, Abdul Rahim Rashid, said that 10 men and nine women were lashed 39 times each in Taloqan city in northeastern Takhar province on November 11.
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The lashings for their “crimes” took place on at the city’s main mosque, in presence of elders, clerics and residents, the Associated Press reported.
Earlier, a Taliban spokesperson had said that they will stick to their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson said that the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhunzada, met with Taliban judges a few days ago and instructed them to implement Sharia law.
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{{/usCountry}}When the Taliban took over Afghanistan last year in August, they had promised to be more moderate and show leniency toward women and minority rights. But videos and photos shared widely on social media have shown the Taliban punishing people, although the officials did not confirm the incidents earlier.
It remained unclear what happened to those 19 people after the lashings.
During their previous rule in the late 1990s, the group carried out public executions, floggings and stoning of those convicted of crimes.