Date: 24/04/1444 The Taliban Supreme Court, in a statement issued to the media, announced that 19 individuals were publicly flogged in Takhar province under rulings issued by local courts.

According to the statement, the group included 10 men and 9 women, all of whom were in detention. After their cases were reviewed in court, they were convicted of adultery, fleeing home, and theft, and sentenced to 39 lashes each.

The floggings were carried out in public on Friday, 27 Aqrab (November 18).

The Taliban’s public flogging of 19 individuals, including women, is a clear example of the regime’s use of corporal punishment as a tool of social control and religious enforcement. Crimes such as "fleeing home" are frequently used to criminalize women's attempts to escape forced marriage, abuse, or repression, making this punishment not only inhumane but also deeply gendered.

Public floggings violate the absolute prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under international law. They are designed not merely to punish but to humiliate, intimidate, and instill fear among the population. Such practices are also carried out without transparency, due process, or access to legal defense, raising serious concerns about the legitimacy and fairness of Taliban court proceedings.