A young Afghan woman was stoned to death after being accused of adultery, officials said Tuesday, a medieval punishment apparently recorded in a video that harks back to the dark days of Taliban rule.
The 30-second clip run in Afghan media shows a woman in a hole in the ground as turbaned men gather around and hurl stones at her with chilling nonchalance.
The woman, named by officials as Rokhsahana and aged between 19 and 21, is heard repeating the shahada, or Muslim profession of faith, her voice growing increasingly high-pitched as stones strike her with sickening thuds.
The killing took place about a week ago in a Taliban-controlled area just outside Firozkoh, the capital of central Ghor province, officials said, confirming the video which was sourced and released by international broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
"Yes, the footage shown in the media is related to Rokhsahana, who was stoned to death," a spokesman for Ghor's Governor Seema Joyenda told AFP.
Rokhsahana was stoned by a gathering of "Taliban, local religious leaders and armed warlords", Joyenda said.
Joyenda, one of only two female governors in Afghanistan, said Rokhsahana'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, Joyenda's spokesman said.
The brutal punishment meted out to Rokhsahana highlighted the endemic violence against women in Afghan society, despite reforms since the hardline Taliban regime fell in 2001.
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