KABUL, Feb 21: Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have introduced a sweeping new penal code that rights groups warn effectively legalises domestic violence and entrenches a rigid social hierarchy in law. The 90-page code, signed by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, permits husbands to physically punish wives and children provided it does not result in “broken bones or open wounds,” with even cases involving visible fractures potentially drawing as little as 15 days in jail.

A woman alleging abuse must prove her case in court while fully covered and accompanied by her husband or a male guardian, while she herself could face up to three months in prison for visiting relatives without her husband’s consent. The legislation also divides society into four tiers — religious scholars, elites, middle class and lower class — prescribing lighter consequences for clerics and elites, and harsher penalties, including corporal punishment administered by religious authorities, for those deemed lower class.

The code abolishes the 2009 Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women enacted under the former Western-backed government. According to The Independent, fear has gripped citizens after authorities warned that even discussing the new code could be treated as an offence. Exiled rights group Rawadari has urged the United Nations to intervene immediately, while UN Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem described the implications for women and girls as “terrifying,” asking whether the international community will act — and when.