World • 24 August 2026

Video exposed Taliban stoning a woman to death for adultery

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Standing in a hole dug into a barren Afghan mountainside, you can just about see Rukhshana's face poking above the surface.

Surrounding her is a group of Taliban picking up rocks from the ground and, one by one, hurling them at the terrified young woman.

Her agonised cries grow louder and louder as the barrage of rocks strikes her with sickening thuds.

In the background, men shout 'Allahu Akbar' as they relentlessly stone their victim.

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The 19-year-old Afghan girl did not survive the barbaric 2015 stoning, which was captured in a video filmed by an anonymous witness and obtained by Radio Free Afghanistan.

The disturbing scenes, capturing for the first time the brutal lengths the Taliban will go to punish defenceless women, spread on social media, shocking the world.

The then-governor of Ghor province, Seema Joyenda, called Rukhshana's killing 'inhumane' at the time, while Maryam Muhammadi, an Afghan youth and women's activist, said: 'It is absurd that the government of Afghanistan lets this happen.'

What makes the stoning of Rukhshana even more devastating is that she was simply trying to get away from the oppressive shackles of the Taliban's rules.

Footage shows Taliban members surrounding 19-year-old Rukhshana as she is stoned to death

The woman was accused of adultery after running away from home and trying to elope with a childhood sweetheart

At just 13 years of age, Rukhshana's parents arranged for her to marry an older man.

But years later, Rukhshana refused to wed and fled with Mohammad Gul – a boy she had been in love with since childhood.

The pair escaped to the Saghar District in Afghanistan's Ghor Province, but after some time, security forces captured Rukhshana and handed her back to her father.

Once again, she was forced into marriage, and once again, she escaped.

While on their way to Murghab village, Rukhshana and Mohammad were stopped by a local Taliban commander who had previously suggested she marry his brother.

The 19-year-old was accused of having premarital sex and arrested. The Taliban demanded five million Afghanis, or £57,000, from her father in exchange for her release.

Since her family could not afford the ransom, a Taliban cleric issued an order for Rukhshana to be stoned.

But the young woman's tragic end was not a one-off, and instead is just one of the countless examples of the levels of violence women in Afghanistan are confronted with every day.

Just months before Rukhshana's killing, a woman named Farkhunda was savagely beaten and set ablaze in central Kabul after being falsely accused of burning a Koran.

The mob killing triggered protests around the country and drew global attention to the treatment of Afghan women.

That same year, a video from the region appeared to show a woman receiving lashes from a turbaned elder in front of a crowd of male spectators.

The flogging came after a local court found her guilty of having sex outside marriage with a man, who was similarly punished.

And ever since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan five years ago, matters for women's rights have only gotten worse.

Women and girls are facing widespread discrimination in Afghanistan, with laws dictating how they must dress and behave.

They are banned from secondary school and universities, from most jobs, and from nearly all leisure activities, including gyms, beauty salons and even public parks.

The rules also stipulate that women can only go out in public when wearing full hijab – which includes a headscarf and long robe covering the entire body – as well as a face covering that leaves only the eyes visible.

The regulations are policed by the feared Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, and if women don't comply, they are met with brutal punishment.

Earlier this month, the Taliban's morality police rounded up at least nine women in a fresh move to enforce strict Sharia law dress codes.

The women were detained in the city of Herat, despite them all wearing hijabs, according to Amu TV – a US-based Afghan broadcaster.

According to a Herat resident, women are becoming increasingly afraid to leave their homes, telling Amu TV: 'They harass women everywhere under the pretext of enforcing morality.'

'Women are being detained, intimidated and subjected to psychological abuse, yet no one is listening.'

Another resident said four women were detained outside the Marble Market last month despite complying with the Taliban's dress requirements.

'They were wearing hijab,' the resident said. 'They were taken simply because they were wearing long coats.'

Residents in Kabul also reported that Taliban morality police have been increasing their street patrols in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, in the Panjshir province, the Taliban recently told female doctors working at a local hospital that they would not be allowed to work unless they wore a burqa.

The latest detention of Afghan women comes just weeks after a protest against the Taliban's morality police left one person dead and several more wounded.

Officials opened fire on demonstrators during a protest back in June after dozens took to the streets to denounce the detention of women and girls arrested for violating the country's dress code.

Footage obtained by Amu TV showed residents running in fear down a street in the Jibrail township, north-west of Herat City, amid the sound of multiple gunshots.

Women walk through a street in Kandahar, Afghanistan, August 4, 2026

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Protesters can be heard screaming as others were beaten to the ground by officials wielding long sticks.

Meanwhile, armed men can be seen breaking up the demonstration, including fully veiled women among the protesters.

Sayed Masoud Hosseini, spokesman for Herat police, told the state-run Bakhtar News Agency that the gathering had 'created tensions' and disturbed public order under the pretext of opposing the Islamic hijab, which he described as a religious obligation.

The demonstration followed days of growing outrage over the detention of women and girls in Herat, for allegedly failing to comply with the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic dress requirements.

Dozens of women, including at least 21 whose detentions were independently confirmed, had been taken into custody by officials from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Amu TV claimed.

The human rights arm of the UN delivered a damning assessment of conditions in Afghanistan in a report released in March, warning that life for ordinary Afghans, especially women and girls, has severely worsened under the Taliban.

Presenting the report, UN Human Rights chief Volker Türk said: 'The cascade of edicts and laws announced by the authorities since coming to power in 2021 is having a crushing impact on the Afghan people, particularly women and girls.'

Women remain excluded from all education above primary school age, following a ban from higher education since December 2022.

In November 2025, medical graduation examinations were held without the participation of women for the second consecutive year, after having been banned from medical institutes since December 2024.

Women deemed not to be complying with the chador requirement – the traditional Islamic full-body cloak – have been removed from public transport and denied access to public markets and services.

Meanwhile, a new law demands that girls wait until puberty before seeking to get out of a marriage, and also requires mediation for women seeking to escape an abusive husband.

'The authorities have, in effect, criminalised the presence of women and girls in public life,' Mr Türk said.

'Discrimination affects their healthcare, their access to civic space, and their freedom of movement and expression.'

'Afghanistan is a graveyard for human rights,' he concluded.