Women flogged in public for wearing short skirts

The government announced on Saturday that women and girls had been publicly flogged by militiamen in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo for donning short skirts or pants. It vowed to punish the offenders.

According to a readout of a cabinet meeting released on Saturday, Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde "condemned the degrading and barbaric abuses by the militiamen" from the armed Malaika organization.

According to Lukonde, the militia had "recently flogged girls and women clad in short skirts and trousers," as they are applying Islamic sharia punishments in the territory they control.

In order to bring about the punishment of the offenders, a government delegation would be sent to Salambila, in the eastern province of Maniema.

The Malaika militia, which says it speaks for the local population, wants the government to give it a larger portion of the Salamabila gold mines' profits.

It is one among many armed organizations that are permitted to operate in the unstable, mineral-rich east of the enormous Central African nation.