Man’s hand chopped for theft while rapist gets 100 lashes

Al-Shabaab militants. A man accused of stealing about 50 US dollars had his hand chopped off while another accused of raping a woman was given 100 lashes by an Islamic court led by the Al-Shabaab in Barawe town, 200km south of the Somalia capital Mogadishu. PHOTO/FILE 

In Summary

• The public flogging was executed on Saturday by militants loyal to Al-Shabaab.
• “This man raped a girl in this district and was found guilty, warranting flogging,” an Al-Shabaab official announced.
• The one whose hand was chopped off was accused of stealing about 50 US dollars.

By ABDULKADIR KHALIF
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Mogadishu, June 1, 2014

An Islamic court in Barawe town, 200km south of the Somalia capital Mogadishu, sentenced a man to 100 lashes for raping a young woman.

 

But at the same time, another man accused of stealing 50 dollars had his hand chopped off.

The public flogging was executed on Saturday by militants loyal to Al-Shabaab, the radical Islamist group in Somalia, near a beach facing the Indian Ocean in the presence of a large crowd.

“This man raped a girl in this district and was found guilty, warranting flogging,” an Al-Shabaab official announced prior to the man getting the whipping.

Next, another man was introduced to the crowd.

STEALING MONEY

Through a loud speaker, the Al-Shabaab official declared that the man was found guilty of stealing money from a house in Barawe town.

He has allegedly stolen one million Somali shillings which is about 50 US dollars.

“The court sentenced this man to have his right hand hacked off, from just above the wrist,” declared the officer.

Soon afterwards, hooded men got hold of the man while another wielding a sharp dagger slashed away the alleged thief’s hand.

No names of the convicts were given, but once the amputation and the flogging were carried out, an Al-Shabaab official, addressed the crowd.

“Anybody attempting to commit crime will face the Sharia (Islamic laws).”

SPIES EXECUTED

On Thursday, the Al-Qaeda linked movement executed three in Barawe town for allegedly 'spying' particularly for the security apparatus of Ethiopia and for the Somalia government.

The Al-Shabaab lost most of the districts in Southern and Central Somalia through a massive military move by the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) and the Somali National Army.

However, the coastal town of Barawe is a stronghold of the Al-Shabaab and it is where US Navy seals launched a nocturnal raid in October 2013.

But the force that was supposed to seize Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir alias Ekrama, a Kenyan national who is a senior commander of the Al-Shabaab, had to retreat unsuccessfully.