Photo via AP/Raqqa Media Center
A woman accused of adultery managed to survive being stoned by Islamic State militants in Syria, according to a monitoring group.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Friday that the militants stoned a Syrian woman in the street in the city of Raqqa until they thought she was dead. She then surprised her captors by attempting to walk away.One militant tried to prevent her from escaping but was stopped by a Sharia judge who reportedly said, "her sentence is done let her go and repent to her God."The UK-based group, which has been documenting the Islamic State's actions throughout the Syrian war, cited "reliable sources" in their report but did not specify exactly when the incident occurred.The Islamic State is waging a campaign of executions against educated Iraqi women. Read more here. The militants have killed at least 15 people since July, nine of whom were women, on charges of homosexuality and adultery, according to the Syrian Observatory.The Islamic State is not the only group in Syria that routinely stones people to death. According to the activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, suspected al-Nusra Front militants — the group associated with al Qaeda — killed a woman accused of adultery by stoning her earlier this month. Footage of the execution was shortly posted online afterwards.Death by stoning is just one of the many punishments the Islamic State hands down to those who have violated their harsh interpretation of Islamic law inside the swaths of Syria and Iraq that are under their control. According to a report released by the Islamic State this month that outlines their penal code, crimes such as apostasy, homosexuality, adultery, and blasphemy are all considered punishable by death.The militants also routinely crucify people and publicly behead those who have committed these alleged crimes. Earlier this month, Islamic State militants allegedly carried out a string of violent executions in a period of 48 hours, including crucifying at least 17 men and throwing two accused homosexuals off a tall building.Gruesome photos allegedly show Islamic State throwing gay men off a tall building. Read more here. The Islamic State claims they impose the harsh punishments under the system of "hudud," a fixed code that determines what behavior is deemed acceptable and what is considered to be a serious crime under Islamic law.Kurdish fighters recently pushed the Islamic State out of the city of Kobane in northern Syria, and the militant group has been the frequent target of airstrikes conducted by a US-led coalition.Follow Olivia Becker on Twitter: @obecker928
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