Taliban flogs teen girl for alleged affair

The grainy footage showed one militant holding her feet and another her head while a third one was seen whipping her as the girl pleaded for mercy.

The private Geo TV reported that the incident took place in Kabal area of the valley six months ago.

It quoted local people as saying that the girl was punished for having illicit relations. The video footage was aired weeks after the provincial government signed a deal with the militants to end violence in the valley,140 kms northwest of Islamabad,leading to enforcement of the strict ‘Sharia’ law in the troubled region bordering Afghanistan.

Condemning the chilling incident,leading human rights activist Asma Jehangir said that the peace agreement had no meaning if it allowed the Taliban to continue their activities.

By signing this pact,the government had made the unarmed residents hostage to the Taliban,she charged.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took suo motu notice of the girl’s flogging and summoned the federal Interior Secretary and North West Frontier Province police chief to appear before him in court on April 6,officials said. The interior secretary was also asked to produce the girl,who was whipped,in court,they said.

The incident,which some other reports said took place in Matta area of Swat a few weeks ago,came to light through the disturbing video footage circulated by militants.

The 2-minute video showed a large crowd of men watching the flogging. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said the girl was punished for coming out of her home with a man who was not her husband.

“There are boundaries you cannot cross,” he told ‘Guardian’. He also defended their thrashing of women shoppers dressed inappropriately,saying it was permitted under Islamic law.

Stating that the flogging incident was being inquired into,Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani noted that his government had initiated a strategy of reconciliation because a military solution to militancy was not feasible. The ruling PPP would take all possible steps to protect rights of women,he said.

However,the government’s approval for a move to enforce Islamic law in Swat was linked to restoration of peace. “If there is peace,the President will give approval to Nizam-e-Adal (Islamic law) regulations and we expect all stakeholders to create peace and prevent such incidents,” Gilani said at Garhi Khuda Baksh in Sindh,where PPP leaders gathered to mark the death anniversary of party founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.