SOMALIA'S hardline Islamist group al-Shabaab has publicly whipped women for wearing bras which, they say, violate Islam by constituting a deception.
The insurgent group, which seeks to impose a strict form of Sharia Islamic law throughout Somalia, also amputated a foot and a hand each from two young men accused of robbery earlier this month. They have also banned movies, musical ringtones, dancin
g at weddings and playing or watching football.
Residents in north Mogadishu said gunmen had rounded up any young woman seen with a firm bust and had them publicly whipped by masked men if they were found to be wearing bras.
A resident, Halima, said her daughters had been whipped on Thursday. "They first introduced a hard fabric which stands stiffly on women's chests. They now say breasts should be firm naturally, or just flat."
Officials of al-Shabaab, which Washington says is al-Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state, declined to comment. The group's hardline interpretation of Islamic law has shocked many Somalis, who are traditionally moderate Muslims. Some residents, however, give the insurgents credit for restoring order to regions under their control.
Al-Shabaab, which means "youth" in Arabic, controls large swathes of south and central Somalia.
Abdullahi Hussein, a student in north Mogadishu, said his elder brother was thrown behind bars when he fought back a man who humiliated their sister by asking her to remove her bra.
"My brother was jailed after he wrestled with a man that had beaten my sister and forced her to remove her bra. He could not stand it," Mr Hussein said.
Men were not spared the "moral cleansing". Any man caught without a beard was also publicly whipped.
"I was beaten and my hair was cut off with a pair of scissors in the street," Mr Hussein said. "My trousers were also cut up to the knee. They even accused me of shaving off my beard, but I am only 18.
"They have arrested dozens of men and women. You just find yourself being whipped by a masked man as soon as leave your house."
