Dozens of Afghan men on trial for mob killing of woman accused of burning Koran

The opening of the trial, which is expected to last two days, at Afghanistan’s Primary Court, in Kabul, was broadcast live on nationwide television

Protesters seek justice in Kabul last week (EPA)

Dozens of Afghan men, including a number of police officers, faced trial on charges relating to the mob killing of a 27-year-old woman accused of burning the Koran.

The opening of the trial, which is expected to last two days, at Afghanistan’s Primary Court, in Kabul, was broadcast live on nationwide television.

On 19 March, a frenzied crowd had beaten and kicked the woman, named Farkhunda, to death, and set her body on fire near a shrine in central Kabul.

The attack was captured via a mobile-phone video which was distributed online, mainly through social-media. It showed Farkhunda, who like many Afghans went by only one name, being beaten, run over by a car and burnt, before her body was thrown into the Kabul river.

At the trial, a prosecutor read charges against 10 defendants – although reports said there were 49 suspects in the courtroom. Charges included assault, murder and encouraging others to participate. The policemen are charged with neglecting their duties and failing to prevent the attack, but some are suspected of taking part.

The incident sparked large demonstrations calling for justice. Some in the country see the killing as a defence of Islam, but many others were outraged at the viciousness of the attack even before an investigation showed that Farkhunda had been falsely accused of desecrating the Koran.

Several protests over violence against women sprang up in the capital, including one in the past week that re-enacted the attack.

Under the Taliban regime, which was ousted by a US-backed military intervention in 2001, women’s rights were curtailed; they were not allowed to leave home without a male guardian and were denied education.

Women’s rights were enshrined in the country’s constitution after the Taliban were pushed out, but most of Afghan society remains deeply conservative. A recent report from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan also said the authorities needed to do more to improve access to justice for women who had been victims of violence. Reuters; AP