A MOTHER and her daughter have been killed in Afghanistan for what has been described as moral deviation and adultery. Conflicting reports say they were stoned and shot to death.
The deaths and arrests of two men happened on Thursday in the Khawaja Hakim area of Ghazni City in Ghazni Province in eastern Afghanistan, where security is to be transferred to Afghan personnel by Nato as part of its plan to withdraw forces from the country by 2014. The scene of the killings is some 300 metres from the provincial governor’s office and the police chief’s office, the BBC reported.
Local police chief Zilawar Zahid said: “They were killed inside their house. An investigation is under way to find out why they were killed and Afghan police have arrested two men in connection with the case.”
A man who lived near the women, Mohammad Jan, said the women had been “accused of adultery and immoral activities”.
Though Mr Zahid denied it, other reports said the killers entered the home where the women lived and took them out to a yard where they were stoned and then shot dead.
“Neighbours did not help or inform the authorities on time,” one official told the BBC. Religious leaders in Ghazni are said to have been issuing fatwas to report on those “involved in adultery”.
In much of the region, the Taliban taxes people and bans girls from schools. Joint weddings are banned – the bride and groom are not allowed to be together as it is felt the woman makes too much noise, disturbing the men.
Women’s rights have improved in some parts of Afghanistan since the Taliban were forced out of power, but many still face violence. The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission logged 1,026 cases of violence against women in the second quarter of 2011 compared to 2,700 cases for the whole of 2010. – (Agencies)