Taliban stones couple to death

A few days ago, we witnessed from afar the Afghanistan Taliban executing a pregnant widow--because of relationships outside of marriage.  In case we thought that was the worst they could do, it turns out that the Taliban is far from done.  This time, "The Taliban has stoned to the death a couple in northern Afghanistan over charges of adultery."

I cannot even begin to imagine the cruel punishment the couple endured before their deaths.

"The two were stoned to death in a bazaar of Dasht-e Archi district on the accusation of committing the act of adultery," said Mohammad Omar.

Last week, Islamist militants publicly flogged and killed a woman, accused of adultery, in the Badhgis province in northwestern Afghanistan, said officials.

These killings in Kunduz, if confirmed, would be the first of their kind by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, where the militant group has comparatively lower influence than in the south. The stoning follows last week's call by a section of clerics for the imposition of a strict code of Islamic law that has frequently awarded capital punishment.

Afghan authorities say the Taliban had arrested the couple following complaints by their parents, as the two were to be married to separate individuals. The Taliban, during their rule of Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, is known to have imposed draconian punishments on people who did not subscribe to its strict code of social behaviour.

As an atheist, I don't imagine that there is anything waiting for us after we die--which rules out heaven and hell.  But, if I am proven to be wrong, I wish that there does exist a special place, call it hell or whatever, which is where I want these murderous and barbaric thugs to end up--after they go through the worst possible torture and death in this world.