A Killing Commanded by Tradition

Several hundred ment gathered at this mosque in Gazon, in remote northern Afghanistan, to decide the fate of Amina and Karim, her lover. (Shoaib Sharifi - The Washington Post)

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At such moments, it is possible to picture him as the militia leader he once was, commanding hundreds of soldiers first against Soviet troops and later against the Taliban forces, which never managed to take the valley.

After the Taliban's defeat in 2001, Yousaf said he disarmed his men, handed over their weapons and retired to his villa in Faizabad, devoting himself to the work of a maulvi, or Islamic scholar. Yet when a messenger arrived from Gazon to tell him of the scandal that had erupted in the village the previous night, Yousaf did not alert the provincial police chief, the district court or any other government authority. Instead, he made for Gazon as quickly as possible, as if still personally responsible for its governance.

"I was worried that Sharafatullah might go to the village and fight Amina's parents, causing a whole community dispute," Yousaf explained. "I was trying to prevent tribal warfare in which thousands of people could be killed."

As it happened, Sharafatullah went to his own village nearby and was "wise enough" to remain there as events unfolded, Yousaf said.

Shortly after reaching Gazon, Yousaf and several other village leaders went to Assan's house to interview Amina in private, he and other witnesses said.

Under sharia, the punishment for adultery is death by stoning. But the code requires that there be undeniable proof of the crime -- for instance, multiple witnesses to the sex act, a confession, or other signs such as an inexplicable pregnancy.

Yousaf said his hope was to exonerate Amina, not to extract a confession from her.

"When I went into the room I was smiling," he said. "I told her, 'Look, I know nothing happened. This is just an allegation. People won't hurt you if nothing happened.' "

Yousaf also said he only questioned Amina about the previous night.

But instead of taking the hint, he said, she volunteered that she had been having an affair with Karim for two years. She said she wanted to divorce her husband and marry Karim.

"She seemed relaxed," Yousaf said. "Like she thought her plan would work."

Karim, who was being held in another hut, told him a similar story, Yousaf said, except Karim said the affair had lasted only a year.