An Afghan woman who was beaten to death and set on fire by a
mob for allegedly burning a copy of the Koran was innocent, the interior
minister has said. The woman named Farkhunda was lynched on Thursday by an
angry crowd in central Kabul for allegedly burning a copy of the Islamic holy
book.
“The accusation against her is completely invalid. Farkhunda
was a religious girl, she was not involved (in burning the Koran), she was
innocent,” interior minister Noorulhaq Ulumi told MPs during questioning in
parliament.
“It is very painful that we were not able to protect a pious
young person. We hope this will not be repeated again.”
Footage of the attack on social media shows several
uniformed police watching as the crowd beat 27-year-old Farkhunda to death
before burning her body, then dumping it into the Kabul river.
The interior ministry also noted that 13 police officers had been suspended, including the police chief responsible for the area. More than a dozen other people have also been arrested over the incident.
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