Kabul: The Taliban government in Afghanistan has implemented
a new criminal code that Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has approved.
Under this new 90-page law, the Law on the Elimination of
Violence against Women, which was enacted during the previous government in
2009, has been repealed and domestic violence against women and children has
been legalized.
According to the new code of the Taliban government, a husband
is given conditional permission to physically abuse his wife and children.
Under the law, such violence has been legalized as long as it does not break a
bone or cause any open wounds.
If the violence is severe enough to break a bone or cause an
obvious fracture, then in such a case the husband can be sentenced to a maximum
of 15 days in prison. The conditions for proving violence in court have also
been specified for the victim, according to which the woman will have to show
her wounds to the judge while fully veiled.
The victim must show the judge her injuries, which must be
fully covered, to prove the violence in court, and the presence of her husband
or a male guardian is mandatory.
In addition, if a married woman visits her relatives without
her husband's permission, she can be sentenced to up to three months in prison.
Article 9 of the code divides Afghan society into four
classes: the ulama (religious scholars), the elite (such as tribal chiefs and
merchants), the middle class, and the lower class. The punishment for the same
crime will depend on the social status of the accused, not the nature of the
crime, while the authority to inflict corporal punishment for serious crimes will
rest with religious scholars rather than correctional institutions.
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