Death penalty for Afghan wedding party rape

Afghanistan has handed the death penalty to seven men for raping and robbing a group of women returning from a wedding.

It was a rare case of sexual assault that has shaken the capital and raised concerns over public security at a time of transition.

Police said a large group of men, some dressed in police uniforms, and with assault rifles, stopped a convoy of cars in which the women were travelling along with their families in the district of Paghman, just outside Kabul, last month.

They dragged four women out of the cars in the middle of the night and raped them in a nearby field. One of them was pregnant. The victims were also beaten and their jewellery and mobile phones stolen.

Crimes against women are common but mostly take place inside homes in Afghanistan’s conservative society. Judge Safihullah Mujadidi in a summary trial, televised nationwide, convicted the men of armed robbery and sexual assault.

The assault has led to such rage that President Hamid Karzai told a delegation of women last week that the perpetrators would face the death penalty.