Woman in Iran sentenced to public flogging for her extra-marital affair

A woman in Iran has reportedly been sentenced to 100 lashes in a public flogging for having an extra-marital affair. The punishment was meted out to the woman known only as ST, on 27 April, in Golpayegan, Isfahan Province, reports Serat News.

The woman is also serving 15 years in prison for the murder of her husband, an offence she committed with the man she had an affair with. Both the woman and the man who helped her kill her husband were arrested following her husband's death in 2012, with the man sentenced to the death penalty for his part in the crime.

Farideh Karimi, a human rights activist and member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), strongly condemned the public flogging in Golpayegan.

"The public flogging of a woman in Iran is a new misogynist measure by the Rouhani government, which is extremely disturbing and abhorrent. The women politicians from the West who visit Iran should reconsider such outreaches and their impact in emboldening the regime in its attitude," she said.

She added: "In view of the new wave of suppression of women in Iran, we urge women's rights activists and organizations to stand up and speak out against the mullahs' misogynist policies."

It is rare for state media to report on women being sentenced to flogging, although instances are believed to have gone unreported. The woman's punishment follows an annual report on Iran by Amnesty International, which drew attention to 'punishments that violate the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment'.

It stated: "These were sometimes carried out in public and included flogging, blinding and amputations."