A Muslim cleric has been arrested in northwest Bangladesh following the death of a woman who was publicly caned as punishment by an Islamic court for an extra-martial affair.
Local police chief Azizul Haq Sarker said Sufia Begum, 50, was accused of having an affair with her stepson and sentenced by a religious court in her village in Rajshahi district.
He said: “Village elders tied 10 canes together and beat her legs.”
The woman who carried out the beating for the elders has also been arrested.
Begum was whipped 40 times on November 12.
Sarker said: “She became seriously ill and was taken to hospital after the caning, where she died last week.”
He added that police had launched an investigation following a complaint from Begum's brother.
In conservative, rural parts of Muslim-majority Bangladesh, rights groups say it is common for women to be publicly whipped for “crimes” such as adultery despite a High Court ban on such religious punishments.
In some documented cases, rape victims have been flogged for being a “participant” in their sexual assault.
In July, Bangladesh's High Court outlawed punishments handed down by religious edict, or fatwa, following a series of public interest litigation cases lodged by local human rights groups.
About 90 percent of Bangladesh's 146 million people are Muslims and most live in rural areas. - Sapa-AFP