Altogether, seven men were bundled and the affected family was requested to come to the police headquarters and identify if they were the offenders.
KABUL – Afghan government has finally answered growing public demands for execution of a gang of rapists who shocked the Muslim society with unprecedented heinous crime last month after the public prosecution recommending capital punishment for all the accused.
“It is vital for the Islamic and Afghan values that such criminal do not get away with such inhuman act against innocent women,” Afghan scholar Sibgatullah Mujadadi told OnIslam.net.
Mujadadi noted that he believes the culprits deserve Shari`ah capital punishment, adding that public execution of these rapists would prove a deterrent for the security of women in future.
The Muslim scholar was referring to a recent crime that shocked Afghanistan last month after a group of men gang-raped women near the Afghan capital, Kabul.
The incident stunned the Afghans who took on to the streets and stormed the social media with calls for public execution of the culprits.
The unfolding details revealed that the victims were too shy and afraid to publicly lodge complain of the incident. But Kabul police, after confirming the abuse reports from city’s Rabia Balkhi hospital, launched extensive search operation against the perpetrators.
Police told OnIslam that the incident occurred on the main road linking Kabul with its northern district Paghman during a night last month.
“The gang of criminals was wearing police uniforms,” Kabul Police Chief Gen. Zahir Zahir said, adding that they stopped four cars who were coming from a late evening wedding ceremony.
“They looted them, abused the men and raped the women, including a teenager and a pregnant one for hours,” he added.
The news went viral on the social media before police came up with three alleged rapists from Kabul.
Investigation led to the arrest of four more who allegedly attempted to escape to Iran via illegal means through land-route.
Altogether, seven men were bundled and the affected family was requested to come to the police headquarters and identify if they were the offenders.
The women, wearing hijab, clearly traumatized by the offence, identified the men, while bursting into tears from agony.
Public Furor
Facing public anger, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has stressed no mercy for such a barefaced crime, urging the judiciary to hang the men.
The Attorney General Office (AGO) has also announced submitting the dossiers of seven detained individuals allegedly involved in the gang-rape case to the Supreme Court, recommending capital punishment for all the accused.
AGO spokesman Basir Azizi told reporters in Kabul they had completed their investigation from the detainees and had shared the findings with the Supreme Court.
However, public anger was still growing as three massive protest rallies were staged in Afghanistan on Saturday demanding justice for the rape victims and security for women across the country.
Participating in the protest, hundreds of residents of Paghman district asked judicial authorities to sentence the accused to death.
The town’s council head, Haji Yar Mohammad, said the accused had committed crime against humanity and Islam.
“The detainees have confessed to their crime, so President Hamid Karzai should order their execution,” he said.
He added that the accused should be hanged at a square in Kabul city publically to set an example for others, otherwise the people would continue protesting.
Local elder, Haji Syed Ahmad, who also took part in the rally, said the Supreme Court should address the issue soon. The accused individuals could be bailed out by their friends if the punishment was delayed, he believed.
Separately, a number of Muslim scholars, tribal elders and civil society activists held a protest gathering in southeastern Khost province to condemn the alleged rapists.
Religious leader Sardar Mohammad Zadran, the head of a local council, said sexual assault on women in Paghman was an atrocious and unforgivable action.
Civil society activists in the capital Kabul also staged a demonstration in front of the Supreme Court demanding justice for the victims.
Islam has a clear stance which states that rape is haram (forbidden) and imposes a deterrent punishment on the one who commits it.
The punishment for rape in Islam is the same as the punishment for zina (adultery or fornication, according to prominent Saudi Islamic lecturer and author Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Al-Munajjid.
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