Afghan women bury woman beaten to death
Print Edition
Afghan women’s rights activists dressed head-to-toe in black broke with tradition yesterday to carry the coffin of a woman who was beaten to death by a mob in the capital Kabul over allegations she had burned a Quran.
The mob of men beat 27-year-old Farkhunda before throwing her body off a roof, running over it with a car, setting it on fire and throwing it into a river near a well-known mosque.
The attack was apparently sparked by allegations that Farkhunda, who like many Afghans has just one name, had set fire to a Quran. But Afghanistan’s most senior detective said no evidence had been found to support this.
Video of the assault taken with cellphones has circulated widely since the attack on Thursday. The killing has shocked many Afghans and led to renewed calls for justice and reform.
“We want justice for Farkhunda, we want justice for Afghan women. All these injustices happening to Afghan women are unacceptable,” said a prominent women’s rights activist who goes by the name Dr Alima.
“In which religion or faith is it acceptable to burn a person to death? Today is a day of national mourning and we will not keep quiet.”
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, now in Washington on his first state visit to the United States since taking office in September, condemned the killing as a “heinous attack” and ordered an investigation.
Following allegations that police stood by and did nothing, Ghani said before leaving for the US that the incident revealed “a fundamental issue” — that security forces are too focused on fighting the Taliban.
But rights activists said the killing showed how women are treated as second-class citizens in Afghan society.
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