Court sentences four to death in Kabul lynching case
Farkhunda was lynched to death in public after she was falsely accused of desecrating the Holy Quran
The body of Farkhunda, 27, who was lynched by an angry mob in central Kabul, was carried to the graveyard by women amid crowds of men. PHOTO: AP
KABUL:
An Afghan court on Wednesday sentenced four men to death for the public lynching in Kabul of a 27-year-old woman falsely accused of burning the Quran.
Judge Safiullah Mojaddidi, announcing the verdict in a case which sparked a public outcry, said Zainul Abiddin, Mohammad Yaqub, Mohammad Sharif and Abdul Bashir would be hanged.
On Sunday, the video of a mob killing the Afghan woman accused of burning pages from Quran was shown in court in the trial of nearly 50 people.
Read: Afghan court shows video of mob lynching woman in Kabul
The judge asked prosecutors on the second day of the trial to play footage, shot with mobile phone cameras, of a crowd kicking and beating the 27-year-old woman, named Farkhunda.
Read: Afghan mob lynches, burns woman to death in Kabul
A total of 49 men, including several police officers, are on trial in the killing.
Read: Afghans bury woman beaten to death by mob
The police are accused of standing by and allowing the mob to kill the woman in broad daylight.
The attack proved a polarising incident in Afghanistan.
Some say the killing was a defence of Islam. Many others were outraged at the viciousness of the attack, even before an investigation showed that Farkhunda had been falsely accused of desecrating the Quran.
Read: Afghan woman lynched over Quran-burning was innocent: minister
Several protests against violence against women sprang up in Kabul, including one in the past week that re-enacted the attack.
Read: Afghan Taliban vow to punish those responsible for lynching woman
An Afghan court on Wednesday sentenced four men to death for the public lynching in Kabul of a 27-year-old woman falsely accused of burning the Quran.
Judge Safiullah Mojaddidi, announcing the verdict in a case which sparked a public outcry, said Zainul Abiddin, Mohammad Yaqub, Mohammad Sharif and Abdul Bashir would be hanged.
On Sunday, the video of a mob killing the Afghan woman accused of burning pages from Quran was shown in court in the trial of nearly 50 people.
Read: Afghan court shows video of mob lynching woman in Kabul
The judge asked prosecutors on the second day of the trial to play footage, shot with mobile phone cameras, of a crowd kicking and beating the 27-year-old woman, named Farkhunda.
Read: Afghan mob lynches, burns woman to death in Kabul
A total of 49 men, including several police officers, are on trial in the killing.
Read: Afghans bury woman beaten to death by mob
The police are accused of standing by and allowing the mob to kill the woman in broad daylight.
The attack proved a polarising incident in Afghanistan.
Some say the killing was a defence of Islam. Many others were outraged at the viciousness of the attack, even before an investigation showed that Farkhunda had been falsely accused of desecrating the Quran.
Read: Afghan woman lynched over Quran-burning was innocent: minister
Several protests against violence against women sprang up in Kabul, including one in the past week that re-enacted the attack.
Read: Afghan Taliban vow to punish those responsible for lynching woman