A 16-year-old Afghan girl has been flogged for allegedly having an affair and her purported boyfriend fined USD 1,600 in a rural district under government control, local officials said on Saturday.
The girl, who has been named only as Sabera, is in poor health since the incident on September 9 in Jaghuri district of Ghazni province, said the head of the provincial women's affairs department, Shukuria Wali.
The Taliban have strongholds in Ghazni, but Jaghuri is under government control and is dominated by ethnic Hazaras, who are generally considered moderate by Afghan standards and do not have strict tribal codes observed by Pashtuns, who dominate the ranks of the Islamist militia.
"According to the information we have, Sabera was first wrapped in a white cloth and then flogged in front of village elders and family members. I have heard she is not in good health," Wali said. The man who allegedly had the affair with Sabera was fined 80,000 Afghanis (USD 1,600), she said.
Jaghuri governor Zafar Sharif confirmed the incident and said a government and rights delegation had been sent to investigate.
Unmarried girls are often confined to the home and forbidden from maintaining any contact with men outside the immediate family in Afghanistan.