[DAWN] Hundreds of people on Sunday attended the burial of an Afghan woman who was beaten to death and set on fire by a mob for allegedly burning a copy of the Koran.The body of Farkhunda, 27, who was lynched on Thursday by an angry crowd in central Kabul, was carried to the graveyard by women amid crowds of men, a rare act of protest in a male-dominated society.
The crowd, shouting "Allah o Akbar" (God is the greatest), demanded the government bring the killers to justice.
"This is a crime against this family, a crime against a sister and a crime against humanity," said Bari Salam, a human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
activist.
"All those involved and all those who supported her killing should be brought to justice," he said.
The lynching ─ which took place in full view of several coppers ─ sparked widespread condemnation at home and abroad.
The United Nations
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said Farkhunda had "suffered mental illness for many years".
But Farkhunda's father said his daughter had a diploma in Islamic studies and could recite the Koran by heart. He insisted she was not involved in burning the holy book.
Farkhunda's brother, Najeebullah Malikzada, supported his father's claim.
"Farkhunda was a deeply religious girl. She used to recite the Holy Koran and pray five times a day," he told the crowd.
Footage of the attack on social media shows a number of uniformed police officials watching the crowd as they beat Farkhunda to death, burn her body and then dump it into a river.
"This brutal act once again shows the incompetence of the police force," Mariam Mustafawi, one of those at the burial said.
"Today our police force is unable to enforce the rule of law. How can they protect us against the enemy?"