Farkhunda was beaten to death by a Kabul, Afghanistan, mob on March 19. She had been arguing with a mullah about his practice of selling charms to women at a shrine. In the course of the argument, she was accused of burning the Quran and a crowd overheard and beat her to death. Thousands marched through the Afghan capital March 24, demanding justice for the woman who was beaten to death by a mob after being falsely accused of burning the Quran.Men and women of all ages carried banners bearing the bloodied face of Farkhunda, a 27-year-old religious scholar killed by the mob. Farkhunda, who went by one name like many Afghans, was beaten, run over with a car and burned before her body was thrown into the Kabul River.Catherine Zant, a senior from Boston, Mass., studying psychology and peacebuilding, said, “Oppression against women throughout the third world is devastating. Incidents like the one in the article occur all the time but receive no media attention. So, the fact that the story of Farkhunda’s death is being publicized and investigated is wonderful.”Amrullah Saleh, a political leader in Afghanistan and former director of the intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, said the demonstrators sought to make Farkhunda an icon of the struggle against “injustice, mob court, street violence, violence against women, lawlessness, extremism,” and especially the injustice suffered by women.“She is an example of probably what has happened silently to many,” Saleh told the Associated Press. “She drew a line with her blood between those who want justice, rule of law, and those who are extreme in their views and who breed in lawlessness.”Zant said, “I think there are two things that can do a lot to eradicate the injustices against women throughout the world. Simply put, it is education and empowerment. The word empowerment is used so often it has become somewhat cliché, but truly as women stand up for themselves and tell the world that they will no longer accept maltreatment, traditions and cultures that perpetuate these injustices, things will change. The Afghan women who rallied after Farkhunda’s death are an excellent example of this.”The Interior Ministry said 28 people have been arrested and 13 police officers suspended as part of investigations. Also, the spokesman for the Kabul police, Hashmat Stanikzai, was fired over comments he made on social media supporting Farkhunda’s killers. Stanikzai could not be reached for comment.Madison Hardisty, a junior from California studying peacebuilding, took an Arbinger approach in analyzing the incident. “In cases of abuse, one party is seeing the other as an object. Generally, we’d like to think that we’re good people, so when we do something that is contrary to that idea, we start to feel really guilty. In order to get rid of that feeling of guilt, we convince ourselves that the other party deserves it and we start to see them as an object. I think that this is something that happens amongst all people, but I think it’s very common in gender inequality, with women being seen as objects.”“The problem is many women don’t even realize they are worth more,” said Zant. “Culturally, in areas of the world, gender roles put women far below men. It is so widely accepted that women won’t question their husbands beating them. Women will be burned in the street and life will go on as usual. This is why education is so vital.”Uploaded April 2, 2015
Writer: Trenton McCullough and AP
