Over the past five years, the Taliban have widely subjected people accused of extramarital sexual relations or homosexuality to public flogging, in addition to imprisoning them. Some of those flogged in Kandahar province say the Taliban announced their names over loudspeakers during the flogging and asked residents to come and watch. They add that they were never given a chance to defend themselves or prove their innocence, and that the Taliban based their decisions solely on their own accusations. After their release from Taliban prisons, these individuals have faced social isolation and public hatred.
Shapirai (pseudonym) is a 33-year-old woman who was publicly flogged by the Taliban in a stadium in Kandahar province in 2024. She recounts that day’s experience with deep bitterness and sorrow in an interview with the Hasht-e Subh Daily. She says that on that day, the Taliban also flogged 13 other people alongside her in front of everyone.
Shapirai says the Taliban first held her in prison for 45 days on charges of “illicit relations,” then brought her and the 13 others to a public square, where they were flogged in front of a crowd. “A lot of people had gathered,” she says. “The 13 of us were sitting in the large square, and everyone was staring at us and thinking very badly of us.” She adds that when the Taliban decided to flog her in public, she had asked them not to carry out the punishment in front of people.
According to Shapirai, the Taliban not only punished her in front of the public but also announced her full identity to those present over a loudspeaker. “I told them that if they wanted to punish me, they should keep me in prison, but not punish me in public,” she says. “Right there, they announced my name, family name, and all my personal details to the people.”
Habibullah, a 24-year-old man also from Kandahar, was likewise flogged in public by the Taliban. With tears in his eyes, he says: “I swear to God, I would have been happier to die. I wish I had not been disgraced like this in this society.”
Habibullah says that in 2023, while he was a guest at a relative’s house in a remote area of Kandahar, the Taliban raided the house at night and detained him along with two other village residents on charges of raping a girl, then transferred them to prison. He says that after some time, the two other men, who had intermediaries acting on their behalf, were released, and the rape case was registered against him alone.
Habibullah adds that he told the Taliban judge he was willing to undergo a medical examination and take an oath that he had no role in the case, but he says he was not allowed to defend himself. The Taliban sentenced him to one year in prison and 39 lashes. He says the lack of justice in Taliban courts, and the fact that defendants’ voices go unheard, have driven some of them to attempt suicide in prison.
The Lives of Victims After Public Flogging
Those who have been publicly flogged by the Taliban say life has become very difficult for them afterward, and they do not know how to protect themselves from the blame and negative views of the people around them.
Shapirai says that after she returned home, all her family members except her mother despised her, telling her she had damaged the family’s honor and should not be forgiven. She says relatives, neighbors, and other people also avoid her, blame her, and say she has tarnished her family’s name. According to Shapirai, people have come to her family’s house several times to propose marriage between her and one of the men in their family, but after learning she had been publicly flogged, they abandoned the idea.
“Everyone who comes here hates me and looks at me with disdain,” she says. “No one will even marry me. Now my family members say they will marry me off to a man whose wife has already died.”
Habibullah has a similar complaint. He says he is spoken of badly in society and is known as someone who committed rape. He adds that he has considered taking his own life several times, but friends have consoled him, telling him the problem is not with him but with the lack of justice in society.
“Everyone says, ‘This is the one they flogged,'” he says. “People blame me and ask how the Taliban punished me in public. I have grown tired of these questions and this blame, and I think to myself that I wish I could just end my life. But my friends reassure me that I have done nothing wrong, and that the problem is the lack of justice in society.”
Public opinion
Some residents of the southern provinces support the Taliban’s decision to punish people in public, but many others strongly condemn the practice, saying people should not be subjected to harsh punishments in public.
Mohammad Qasim, a resident of Kandahar city’s first district, says publicly punishing people can help reduce crime and moral corruption in society. He calls on the Taliban to punish offenders this way. “Those who commit crimes should be flogged and imprisoned so the crime rate can be reduced,” he says.
Other Kandahar residents, however, say publicly punishing people is not appropriate under current circumstances, and that the Taliban should instead consider approaches that would reduce crime rates and keep people from being driven to commit crimes or moral offenses.
Zainullah, a civil society activist in Kandahar, says: “The Taliban punish people who have committed moral crimes, theft, or engaged in illicit relations, but punishment is not the solution to these problems. The solution is to create job opportunities for people and make marriage easier. Flogging people in front of others is not the solution.”
The accounts of those interviewed for this report show that the public disclosure of their identities and the charges against them have led to social stigma, blame, and family pressure.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
شلاق طالبان و زخم زبان مردم؛ قربانیان مجازاتهای علنی چگونه در قندهار طرد میشوند؟
