KABUL // A 22 year old woman was stoned to death by a group of men identified as Taliban insurgents after she was accused of adultery, an Afghan official said.
Abdul Hai Khateby, spokesman for the governor of central Ghor province, said Wednesday the woman, identified only as Rokhshana, was thrown into a hole in the ground and stoned to death.
Mr Khateby said Rokhshana had been accused of running away from home and adultery.
The killing happened on October 24 in a village about 45 kilometres north of Firozkoh, capital of Ghor. The area is controlled by Taliban insurgents “who implement their own barbaric laws,” he said.
A 30-second video clip ran in Afghan media was confirmed to be of the incident.
“Yes, the footage shown in the media is related to Rokhshana, who was stoned to death,” a spokesman for Ghor’s Governor Seema Joyenda said.
Rokhshana was stoned by a gathering of “Taliban, local religious leaders and armed warlords”, Joyenda said.
Ms Joyenda, one of only two female governors in Afghanistan, said Rokhshana’s family had married her off against her will and that she was caught while eloping with another man her age — seen as tantamount to adultery.
The man was let off with a lashing, Ms Joyenda’s spokesman said.
Stoning is illegal under the Afghan constitution.
* Associated Press