Woman lynched in Afghanistan laid to rest

Hundreds of people attended the burial of an Afghan woman on Sunday, following her brutal lynching last Thursday. The coffin of Farkhunda, 27, was carried by women's rights activists surrounded by crowds of men, a rare act of defiance in a country where violence against women often goes unpunished.

"This is a crime against this family, a crime against a sister and a crime against humanity," said human rights activist Bari Salam, "all those involved and all those who supported her killing should be brought to justice."

Farkhunda was beaten to death in Kabul by a mob of mostly men and then her body was set on fire in an act that President Ashraf Ghani, who put women's rights at the heart of his presidential campaign last year, has described as "heinous." The mob became incensed because she had allegedly set fire to a copy of the Koran. The head of the criminal investigation, Mohammad Farid Afzali, said the young woman suffered from an unspecified mental illness.

Her father found the suggestion that his daughter had burned the holy book quite dubious, as she had a diploma in Islamic Studies and could recite the Koran by heart. A member of the interior ministry, General Mohammad Zahir, who was at the funeral, supported her father's statements, saying there was not "a single iota of evidence" that she set fire to the book.

"She is completely innocent," Zahir said.

The Kabul police announced that eleven people had been arrested in connection with the killing.

es/sb (AP, AFP)