Four men in Afghanistan were sentenced to death by hanging for the brutal mob killing of a woman falsely accused of burning the Quran. The case exploded across the international news after video of the horrific scene emerged online in March.
Yahoo News reported via The Associated Press that Judge Safiullah Mojadedi sentenced eight others to 16 years in prison, and dropped charges against 18 other suspects for lack of evidence.
The victim, a woman named Farkhunda, was beaten on March 19 by a mob of dozens, run over with a car, and set on fire before her body was dumped into the Kabul River. Both police and citizens were part of the mob.
"The outcome of the trial is not fair and we do not accept it — you saw just four people sentenced to death but everybody knows that more than 40 people were involved in martyring and burning and beating my sister," said Farkhunda's brother, Mujibullah. Like many Afghans, both siblings use only one name.
"The whole world has seen the crime that was committed against my sister. I am not a cleric, but the Quran says that if anyone kills another human being, then they should themselves be put to death."
After the brutal beating and homicide, an Afghan presidential investigation found that Farkhunda had not damaged the holy book, and was falsely accused.
A recent report by the United Nations stated that the country does not do a good job of providing justice for its citizen, especially its citizens who are women.
Laws providing increased protections for women were implemented in the years following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, but some lawmakers have tried to roll them back in recent years, worrying women's-rights advocates.
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