Corpun file 9919 at www.corpun.com
United Press International, 17 May 1997
Man, boy flogged in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, May 17 (UPI) -- Tribesmen in Pakistan's semi-autonomous western fringe have flogged a man and a boy in public for committing sodomy.
A report today says hundreds of tribesmen cheered Friday morning as 38-year-old Mohammad Zaman took 75 lashes and 14-year-old Fahimullah took 32 stripes.
The report says Maulana Abdul Hadi and a group of elders of the Afridi tribe passed sentence on the two when they confessed after being caught in a public toilet in Bara, the main bazaar in Khyber Agency bordering Afghanistan.
This is the first instance of public whipping in the tribal areas since the Pakistan government launched an operation nearly two years ago against Hadi and the self-styled Islamic government of the Tanzeem-i-Ulema.
Nine people died in August 1995 when paramilitary forces attacked Hadi and his supporters after they raised their own army and established an independent court system.
They were demanding implementation of Islamic laws in their area.
Hadi's party is enjoying a resurgence since the Pakistan government extended the right of adult franchise to tribal men and women for general elections in February for the first time in Pakistan's history.
The tribal areas have been semi-autonomous since British times.
