Kabul protest over lynching

Angry demo after mob kills woman for alleged Koran burning

HUNDREDS of protesters shouting “Down with ignorance!” yesterday urged the Afghan government to bring to justice the killers of a woman lynched by a mob for allegedly burning the Koran.

The woman, named Farkhunda, 27, was beaten with sticks and stones, thrown from a roof and run over by a vehicle outside a mosque in Kabul on Thursday.

The mob then set her body ablaze and dumped it in the Kabul River, watched by several police officers.

Demonstrators gathered in the rain outside the supreme court in Kabul, demanding justice and shouting: “Down with ignorance! We want justice for Farkhunda.”

“She was our sister,” protester Ahmad Zia said. “The peo- ple who killed her had no respect for women, for law or for Sharia.

“Her brutal killing should bring a big change.”

Women’s rights activist Soraya Parlika said: “This is the first time in Afghan history that we have witnessed such brutality. This is such an inhumane and un-Islamic act against a woman.”

Some carried banners calling for the resignation of the city’s police chief.

In downtown Kabul, meanwhile, residents of the Afghan capital planted a tree near the site of Farkhunda’s killing to mark the brutal assault.

“I feel as if they have killed and burnt my daughter,” one tearful woman said at the treeplanting.

“Those people are cowards. They should have protected her,” the woman, who declined to be identified, said.

“They could have protected her if they wanted to.”

Late yesterday even the Afghan Taliban condemned the woman’s killers for “using the Koran [as a] pretext to kill innocent humans”, in a highly unusual statement.

The group also extended condolences to Farkhunda’s family and warned: “We will severely punish the killers of this innocent woman to prevent such incidents from happening in future.”

The demonstration followed another protest by scores of people on Monday, demanding that the killers be brought to justice.

President Ashraf Ghani has condemned the killing as heinous and ordered an investigation into her death.

A spokeswoman for European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said yesterday Farkhunda’s death was a tragic reminder of the dangers women face from false accusations and the lack of justice in Afghanistan.

Interior Minister Noor ul Haq Ulumi told parliament on Monday that Farkhunda had not in fact burnt a Koran.

“The accusation against her is completely invalid. Farkhunda was a religious girl. She was not involved [in burning the Koran]. She was innocent,” the minister said.

“It is very painful that we were not able to protect a pious young person. We hope this will not be repeated.”

His ministry said yesterday its investigation had led to the arrest of 28 people as well as the detention and interrogation of 20 policemen, following reports that they had done nothing to prevent the lynching.

Kabul’s main police spokesman was also sacked after making comments on social media condemning the burning of the Koran, rather than the lynching.

Farkhunda’s body was carried to the graveyard by women on Sunday, a break with a tradition that men should carry the coffin.

Allegations of Koran burnings have sparked violent incidents before in Afghanistan, a deeply conservative nation.

In 2012 the revelation that copies of the Koran had been burnt at the US-run Bagram prison sparked five days of violent anti-US riots and attacks across the country, in which 30 people died. – AFP

‘ We will severely punish the killers of this innocent woman