In the latest display of harsh corporal punishment, the Taliban publicly flogged two women and two men in Ghazni and Baghlan provinces on charges of “moral corruption” and “illicit relations.”
According to the Taliban’s Supreme Court, these punishments were carried out after being confirmed by the group’s local courts and in the presence of officials and residents. In Jaghatu district of Ghazni, a man and a woman were sentenced to three months in prison and 30 lashes for “moral corruption,” and the punishment was executed before a crowd.
In a similar case in Pul-e-Khumri, Baghlan, another man and woman were given three months’ imprisonment and 35 lashes for “illicit relations.”
Public floggings remain a cornerstone of the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Sharia law—a policy that has been enforced repeatedly across various provinces since the group’s return to power in 2021. Over the past few years, dozens of people have faced such punishments for alleged offenses such as “illicit relations, theft, and fleeing from home.”
These actions have drawn widespread condemnation from both domestic and international human rights organizations. Rights groups have repeatedly denounced flogging, stoning, and other corporal punishments as acts of torture and cruel, inhuman treatment, in clear violation of international human rights laws. The Taliban, however, continue to defend these practices as “religious rulings,” vowing that their implementation will persist.
