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| Mob Attacks Afghan Doctor and Patient | Mob Attacks Afghan Doctor and Patient |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan medical doctor and his female patient were stoned by a mob after they were discovered in his private examining room without a chaperon, Afghan officials said on Thursday. | |
| There were conflicting accounts that the doctor had been killed or that he had suffered severe injuries and been sent out of Afghanistan for treatment. The woman was initially feared missing, but was later reported to be at a women’s shelter, according to an official there. | There were conflicting accounts that the doctor had been killed or that he had suffered severe injuries and been sent out of Afghanistan for treatment. The woman was initially feared missing, but was later reported to be at a women’s shelter, according to an official there. |
| The attack took place in the government-held town of Sar-i-Pul, in the northern province of the same name, on Tuesday, but news was slow to leak out and officials initially denied anyone had been hurt. | |
| The provincial police chief, Abdul Raouf Taj, said that local villagers and shopkeepers stormed the private clinic when they heard that the doctor, Ajmeer Hashimi, was treating a patient, a midwife named Mahboba, alone in his examining room. | The provincial police chief, Abdul Raouf Taj, said that local villagers and shopkeepers stormed the private clinic when they heard that the doctor, Ajmeer Hashimi, was treating a patient, a midwife named Mahboba, alone in his examining room. |
| In many parts of Afghanistan, particularly in remote areas, women are customarily not allowed to be examined by male doctors except in the presence of close male family members as their chaperons. Stoning is the Shariah Law punishment for adultery, and many Afghan clerics approve of it, although it is officially outlawed here. | |
| “It’s always hard for working women to stay in touch with male colleagues because most Afghans see them as sexual relations rather than work relations, and it’s all because of old traditions and a low level of education,” Mr. Taj, the police chief, said. | “It’s always hard for working women to stay in touch with male colleagues because most Afghans see them as sexual relations rather than work relations, and it’s all because of old traditions and a low level of education,” Mr. Taj, the police chief, said. |
| He said there was no indication that the victims’ relationship was anything other than professional in nature. | He said there was no indication that the victims’ relationship was anything other than professional in nature. |
| The mob chased the doctor and patient into the street and stoned both of them but, according to Mr. Taj, they were rescued by the authorities and taken to the Balkh General Hospital in Mazar-i-Sharif. However, official sources at that hospital said they had been told by the police that the doctor had been killed and the midwife was missing. One source said that the police had ordered hospital officials to lie and to say that both victims were at their hospital under treatment. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution for violating those orders. | |
| The victims, who were both married, but not to each other, were employed at the Sar-i-Pul provincial hospital. Dr. Hashimi also had the private clinic where he saw patients privately. Mahboba, the midwife, is the mother of two children, ages 5 and 6; like many Afghans she has only one name. | |
| An official at a women’s shelter, the location of which is being withheld for the safety of the victim, said Mahboba had been rescued by the police and brought to the shelter, where she was in good condition. | |
| That official said she had been told that the doctor had survived the attack but was critically injured and had been taken to India for treatment. | That official said she had been told that the doctor had survived the attack but was critically injured and had been taken to India for treatment. |
| In unrelated news in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, in a Taliban-infested area of Helmand Province, six Afghan policemen were killed by an apparent infiltrator working for the insurgents, who claimed responsibility. | In unrelated news in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, in a Taliban-infested area of Helmand Province, six Afghan policemen were killed by an apparent infiltrator working for the insurgents, who claimed responsibility. |
| The authorities in Musa Qala District discovered early Thursday morning that four Afghan Local Police and two National Police officers, stationed at the same check post, had been killed and their police pickup truck taken away, according to Omar Zawak, the spokesman for the provincial governor. He called it “heartbreaking news.” | The authorities in Musa Qala District discovered early Thursday morning that four Afghan Local Police and two National Police officers, stationed at the same check post, had been killed and their police pickup truck taken away, according to Omar Zawak, the spokesman for the provincial governor. He called it “heartbreaking news.” |
| A spokesman for the Taliban, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, reached by telephone, said the insurgents had infiltrated that police post with someone who turned on the other officers. | |
Sharifullah Sahak contributed reporting. | Sharifullah Sahak contributed reporting. |