Al Qaeda's Timbuktu prison where women locked up and lashed for being immodest

Imprisoned: A Malian women has spoken of how she was locked up and lashed 15 times a day for letting her veil slip off her head
Imprisoned: A Malian women has spoken of how she was locked up and lashed 15 times a day for letting her veil slip off her head


By JAMES RUSH

A Malian woman has spoken of how she was thrown into an Islamist prison and given 15 lashes a day for letting a veil slip off her head.

Residents in Timbuktu have been speaking for the first time of a rule of fear under Al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels, who had controlled the city until it was re-taken by French and Malian troops at the weekend.

People have been openly smoking on the city's streets for the first time in months - something that would have earned them swift retribution only a few days ago.

Prison: The woman showed the two square metre cell which she had to share with up to 14 other detainees
Prison: The woman showed the two square metre cell which she had to share with up to 14 other detainees

Punishment: The woman said she was taken to the jail and beaten 15 times a day for letting her veil slip
Punishment: The woman said she was taken to the jail and beaten 15 times a day for letting her veil slip

Free: The woman was speaking after Islamist rebels, who had ruled the city for nine months, were forced out of Timbuktu by French and Malian forces
Free: The woman was speaking after Islamist rebels, who had ruled the city for nine months, were forced out of Timbuktu by French and Malian forces

One woman told French broadcaster TF1 how she was thrown into prison and given 15 lashes a day. Her crime had been to let a veil over her head slip, revealing her hair underneath.

She showed the two square metre cell which she had to share with up to 14 other detainees.

'I had the veil and it fell off my head. The took me off to prison and there, they beat me. Every day 15 lashes with a whip,' said the woman who put on a dress adorned with a sticker commemorating International Women's Day. Read more: dailymail.co.uk

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