Qom criminal court sentences woman to 50 lashes for kissing a man in a café

Branch 119 of Qom's Criminal Court Two has sentenced a woman to 50 discretionary (ta'zir) lashes on charges of "kissing and hugging" a man in a café. HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists in Iran, said the sentence was issued after a complaint by the woman's husband and on the basis of a video showing her physical contact with another man.

According to HRANA, the woman denied the charge during the proceedings, but the court rejected her defence and wrote in its verdict that the video submitted was not fabricated and had not been made with artificial intelligence. The court cited Articles 18, 19 and 211 of the Islamic Penal Code and Article 637 of the code's ta'zir section.

Article 637: flogging for private life

Article 637 of the Islamic Penal Code makes any "illegitimate relationship" or "act against chastity" other than adultery, including kissing, between a man and a woman who are not married to each other a crime, punishable by up to 99 lashes. The number of lashes, from one to 99, is left to the judge.

Flogging is a corporal punishment that the United Nations and human rights bodies regard as a form of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The Islamic Republic still imposes it for conduct such as drinking alcohol, relationships outside marriage and attending mixed-gender parties, and its victims are above all women.

The sentence comes amid the Islamic Republic's continuing restrictions on women's private lives and public presence, from barring women from the outdoor athletics track of Tehran's national sports complex to pressure on women in the street and at work.

A court in Qom ordered 50 lashes for a kiss in a café.