This poor dear seems to have been found in a car with someone unrelated. Could have been talking, could have been doing anything. [One minute snippet of her flogging here.] I find the voyeur aspect of punishment depression -- not only do the locals gather for floggings, but for beheadings and stonings. From a concerned group opposed to such things:
It is unacceptable to subject a woman or a man to corporal punishment, regardless of the crime the person may have committed. It’s a flagrant attack on human rights. In this video, the tormentors wanted to humiliate this woman, because in addition to being whipped, she is exposed to curious onlookers. The treatment is really degrading.
Punishment by lashes is, unfortunately, experienced by thousands of Sudanese women. The wording of the law on public order is very vague: it condemns indecent outfits and behaviours without defining them. Therefore, whether a piece of clothing conforms to public decency is entirely up to a police officer’s discretion. Any woman who wears pants or who doesn’t have her head entirely covered by a headscarf can be punished with up to 50 lashes.
Authorities have set up a special police force, called the public order police, and special courts to deal with these sorts of offences. The legal process is unfair and rushed because in most cases, the accused is judged and sentenced on the spot without the presence of a lawyer, nor any sort of legal assistance.
Shari'a law is firmly in place. Tribal customs and local traditions have been formed by it for centuries.
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