The Taliban has declared its intention to resume stoning women to death for adultery in Afghanistan, according to a report. The group’s Supreme Leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, announced the decision in a voice message broadcast on state TV last Saturday, as reported by the Telegraph. In a video obtained by the Telegraph, Akhundzada stated that the women’s rights advocated by the international community were contrary to the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. “You consider it a violation of women’s rights when we stone them to death. However, we will soon implement the punishment for adultery. We will publicly flog women. We will publicly stone them to death,” he declared.
Women in Afghanistan have encountered numerous hardships
“The work of the Taliban did not conclude with the seizure of Kabul; rather, it has just commenced,” Akhundzada emphasized. Since the Taliban regained control in 2021, women in Afghanistan have encountered numerous hardships. Girls and women in the conflict-ridden nation lack access to education, employment, and public spaces. Merely a month after reclaiming power, the Taliban authorities prohibited girls from attending secondary school, subsequently shutting off access to university education in December 2022, and then severely limiting their ability to participate in the workforce.
According to a UN report, conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan are the “most dire globally,” with the Taliban government’s policies, based on their strict interpretation of Islam, potentially constituting “gender apartheid.” Many families feel that marriage is the only viable future for their daughters, “regardless of their consent,” a young student told AFP. “Depression is widespread. The rate of suicide among girls has increased significantly in the last two years. It’s tragic,” she informed the news agency.