Woman lynched for burning Qur’an was innocent

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Monday 23 Mar 2015 - 14:00 Makkah mean time-3-6-1436 Kabul (IINA) – A woman killed by an angry mob in front of police in the Afghan capital last week for allegedly burning a copy of the Holy Qur’an was wrongly accused, Afghanistan’s top criminal investigator said on Sunday. Mobile phone footage circulating on social media shows police at the scene did not save the 27-year-old woman, Farkhunda, who was beaten with sticks and set on fire by a crowd of men in central Kabul in broad daylight on Thursday. “Last night I went through all documents and evidence once again, but I couldn’t find any evidence to say Farkhunda burned the Holy Qur’an,” General Mohammad Zahir told reporters at her funeral on Sunday. “Farkhunda was totally innocent.” The top criminal investigator promised to punish all those involved and said 13 people, including eight police officers, had already been arrested. The killing was condemned by the Afghan president and other officials, but also drew praise from some quarters, including from a prominent cleric, who asserted the men had a right to defend their Muslim beliefs at all costs. Farkhunda was a teacher of Islamic studies, according to her brother, who denied media reports that she had been mentally ill. He said this was a made-up defense by their father, who wanted to protect the family after police told them to leave the city for their own safety. “My father was frightened and made the false statement to calm people down,” said Najibullah, who is changing his second name to Farkhunda in memory of his sister. HA/IINA