MOGADISHU, Somalia – A 16 years-old man was tied up and given 100 lashes publicly by al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab for committing a gang-rape.
The lashing took place at a public square in Dalandole area, near Baidoa town, some 250km south west of Somali capital Mogadishu and was witnessed by a large crowd.
A judge in Al Shabaab court said the group found the man guilty of raping a woman, with the sentence of being flogged and expelled from the town.
Ibrahim Nurow, 16-years-old man was taken out into public, tied to a tree with a rope before the lashing.
Nurow was crying out in pain as a hooded militant uses a leather belt to dish out his punishment, a witness said.
He said Nurow was left severely injured following the lashes.
Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked group, often carries out punishments including executions, amputations and flogging on people it accuses mostly of espionage, theft and rape.
The group is fighting to overthrow the weak UN-backed government in Somalia and impose its own strict interpretation of Islamic law.
It has lost control of many towns and cities to a 22,000-strong African Union force supporting the government.
But the group still has a strong presence in many rural areas.
