Report: Bangladesh Exhumes Body of Lashed Teen

The body of a teenage girl in Bangladesh who died after being whipped for having an affair has reportedly been exhumed on court orders.

Hena Begum, 15, died in a hospital last week after being publicly lashed with a rope by village elders, including Muslim clerics, in a rural district following an extramarital affair with her cousin, AFP reports.

Police found no "external injury marks" on Begum during an initial investigation, triggering outcry from activists.

"The body was exhumed late Monday and brought to Dhaka," attorney general Mahbubey Alam told AFP.  "A three-member expert forensic team will now conduct a fresh post mortem on her and we shall shortly find out the reason of her death."

Alam said the High Court ordered the exhumation after media outlets claimed that police and authorities were covering up the case.

In conservative parts of Muslim-majority Bangladesh, rights groups say it is common for women to be publicly whipped for "crimes" such as adultery despite a ban on such religious punishments. In some documented cases, rape victims have been flogged for being a "participant" in their sexual assault, AFP reports.

Click for more on the story of the Bangladesh teen from AFP.