KABUL: A young Afghan woman who was married against her will has been stoned to death by extremists after she was caught eloping with another man, local officials told AFP Tuesday.

The graphic video shows the woman, named as Rokhsahana and aged between 19 and 21, being stoned.

Rokhsahana can be heard repeating the 'Shahada', or Muslim profession of faith, her voice growing increasingly high-pitched in the nearly 30-second clip run in Afghan media. Local authorities confirmed the footage.

The killing took place about a week ago in Ghalmeen, an area some 40 kilometres from the Ghor provincial capital of Firozkoh, governor Seema Joyenda said.

Rokhsahana had been "stoned to death by Taliban, local religious leaders and irresponsible armed warlords", Joyenda told AFP.

Joyenda, one of Afghanistan's only two female governors, said that according to authorities' information Rokhsahana's family had "married her to someone against her will and she was eloping with a man her age".

She condemned the stoning, calling on Kabul to take action to "clean the area".

"This is the first incident in this area but will not be the last. Women in general have problems all over the country, but especially in Ghor... The man with whom she was eloping has not been stoned."

Ghor police chief Mustafa Mohseni told AFP that the incident happened in an Afghan Taliban-controlled area, confirming that it was the first such incident "this year".

Read: Parents of young woman stoned to death await justice

Opinion

Editorial

A turbulent 2023
12 May, 2024

A turbulent 2023

PAKISTAN faced a tumultuous year in 2023 marked by severe economic distress and a sharp erosion of civil liberties....
A moral victory
12 May, 2024

A moral victory

AS the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted on Friday in favour of granting Palestine greater rights at the...
Hope after defeat
12 May, 2024

Hope after defeat

ON Saturday, having fallen behind Japan in the first quarter of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup final, Pakistan showed...
Taxing pensions
Updated 11 May, 2024

Taxing pensions

Tax reforms have failed to deliver because of distortions created by the FBR bureaucracy through SROs, apparently for personal gains.
Orwellian slide
11 May, 2024

Orwellian slide

IN recent years, Pakistan has made several attempts at introducing an overarching mechanism through which to check...
Terror against girls
11 May, 2024

Terror against girls

ONCE again, the ogre of terrorism is seeking the sacrifice of schoolgirls. On Wednesday, just days after the...