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Islamic State Releases Video Allegedly Showing Woman Being Stoned to Death by Her Father

A woman accused of committing adultery is shown being stoned to death by her father and Islamic State fighters in the countryside of Hama.
Photo via VICE News

A married woman is allegedly shown being stoned to death in the Syrian countryside by her father and a group of fighters from the Islamic State in a five-minute long video released by the militant group on Tuesday.

The woman, wrapped in a maroon cloth, was sentenced to the stoning because of accusations that she committed adultery, according to AFP. A statement from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the stoning apparently took place in the countryside of Hama, a city in western Syria. The UK-based information office said it was unable confirm the date the video was filmed.

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The footage opens with the alleged father — wearing a red and white checked headscarf — standing next to a tall bearded Islamic State fighter wearing camo fatigues and a collared shirt. Armed fighters with covered faces hover behind the men.

Speaking to the woman, the fighter addresses her, at one point saying: "You must accept God's rule and this is a sin that you have committed." He then asks her if she accepts God's rule and punishment, to which she says yes.

The woman asks for forgiveness from her father, but the man declines, visibly waving his finger in refusal and saying saying, "Absolutely not, I am no longer her father."

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Eventually, the man is approached by another fighter, dressed all in black, who persuades him to accept his daughter's forgiveness.

Before her stoning and after accepting her sentence, the woman is prompted to speak and give advice. "I say to every woman: preserve your honor… and I appeal to every father to pay attention to the surroundings your daughter lives in," she said.

Afterward, the blue-shirted fighter turns to the camera and says, "life is a deep ocean, you need to watch your families and honor them. Go back to God, don't leave your families for too long."

With a rope tied around her waist, the woman is then guided to a hole in the ground where she is readied to be stoned to death. Other fighters are perched around the hole. After a man off camera is heard speaking, the daughter crouches in the hole and is pelted with large stones.

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At one point the camera turns to the men and through blurry footage and the man portrayed as her father is seen throwing multiple stones. The video cuts out after more than a minute of stoning, but it is unclear if it continued after the camera is turned off.

In response to the video, Salem Muslet, vice-president of the Syrian National Coalition — an international coalition of Syrian opposition groups —   told VICE News in a statement that the opposition group condemns the crime against the woman.

"We emphasize that this crime, as well as other crimes committed by ISIS, do not reflect the principles of the revolution or the Syrian Coalition," Muslet said.

The violent and graphic footage comes after a series of videos in recent months appearing to show the beheadings of journalists and foreign aid workers. In September, the group released a feature-length film — documenting their ongoing insurgency into Iraq and Syria —which contains footage of a mass execution of Syrian soldiers captured at the Raqqa air force base.

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Follow Kayla Ruble on Twitter: @RubleKB