KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban publicly flogged a man and a woman in the northern province of Sar-e-Pul after convicting them of “illicit relations,” the Taliban’s Supreme Court said Monday.
In a statement, the Taliban court announced that the two were sentenced last week, with their punishments carried out publicly on Sunday. One was sentenced to two years in prison and 29 lashes, while the other received a one-year prison term and 25 lashes.
The incident is part of a growing trend of public corporal punishments under Taliban rule, drawing widespread domestic and international condemnation. Over the past month alone, Taliban authorities have administered public lashings to more than 40 people across the country.
The Taliban’s leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has repeatedly called for the full implementation of hudud and qisas — Islamic punishments such as amputations, lashings, and executions — according to their interpretation of Islamic law.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have increasingly used public punishments despite global criticism, including from human rights organizations and Western governments. Many Afghans view the public lashings as cruel and a violation of basic human dignity.
According to findings by Amu TV, the Taliban have flogged at least 858 individuals — including 148 women — in public over the past three years:
298 individuals, including 74 women, in 2022;
44 individuals, including 6 women, in 2023;
458 individuals, including 60 women, in 2024;
56 individuals, including 8 women, so far in 2025.
Afghan citizens and rights groups have consistently denounced the Taliban’s use of corporal punishment as “inhumane” and “contrary to fundamental human values.”
