KABUL /BRUSSELS: Hundreds of protesters shouting “Down with ignorance!” urged the Afghan government on Tuesday to bring to justice the killers of a woman lynched by a mob for allegedly burning the Quran.

Farkhunda, 27, was beaten with sticks and stones, thrown from a roof and run over by a car outside a mosque in Kabul on Thursday. The mob then set her body ablaze and dumped it in the Kabul river while several police officers looked on.

Demonstrators gathered in the rain outside the supreme court in Kabul, demanding justice and shouting, “Down with ignorance! We want justice for Farkhunda”. “She was our sister,” said Ahmad Zia, one of the protesters.

Know more: Afghan police arrest nine after woman lynched over 'Quran burning'

“The people who killed her had no respect for women, for law or for Sharia. Her brutal killing should bring a big change”.

In downtown Kabul, meanwhile, residents of the Afghan capital planted a tree near the site of Farkhunda’s killing to mark the brutal assault. “I feel as if they have killed and burnt my daughter,” said one tearful woman at the tree-planting.

“All those people are cowards, they should have protected her,” said a woman protester.

Meanwhile, the EU denounced on Tuesday the dangers faced by women in Afghanistan and called for the attackers who lynched a woman who allegedly burned the Quran to be brought to justice.

“The killing of Ms Farkhunda... is a tragic reminder of dangers women face from false accusations and the lack of justice in Afghanistan,” a spokeswoman for European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement.

Afghan Interior Minister Noorul Haq Ulumi said that Farkhunda, who was known by one name, had not in fact burnt a Quran and that she should have been protected.

Twenty-eight people have been arrested over the killing while 20 policemen have been detained and investigated over the reports that they did nothing to help.

“We all hope that (those) responsible can be brought to justice,” the EU statement added.

The EU, which has contributed huge sums to rebuilding the war-torn nation and boosting security there, said it would keep pushing for an end to “all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls”.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2015

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