VIOLENCE

Pakistan Flogging Causes Outrage

Taliban publicly beats 17-year-old girl.

A shocking video of Taliban militants flogging a 17-year-old girl has emerged, causing public outcry in Pakistan. Two men pin the girl to the ground while she is flogged by a third, and dozens of people look on as she screams. The government is inquiring into the situation, and President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered the floggers’ arrest. But the government has little control over the violent Swat Valley, where the flogging took place. The Taliban rules the region, and an official order to produce the woman in Islamabad next Monday probably won’t be obeyed. A Taliban spokesperson defended the flogging, saying: "She had to be punished. The punishment administered by local Taliban was in our knowledge and they did the right thing, but the method was wrong."