[Voice of America] Forty-nine suspects, including 19 Afghan police officers, have gone on trial in Kabul on charges linked to the mob beating death of a 27-year-old woman last month.The televised proceedings opened Saturday with prosecutors arguing that the victim, Farkhunda, was beaten to death and burned March 19 in a frantic attack sparked by a cleric’s phony claim that she had desecrated a copy of Islam’s holy book, the Quran.
Most of the police are charged with neglecting their duty to prevent the attack, though some are suspected of direct participation in the killing.
Widely circulated video showed Farkhunda being beaten and run over by a car before being set on fire. Her body was then thrown into the Kabul River. The video also showed police doing nothing to prevent the attack.