'Ashtiani fainted, wandered like 'ghost in shock' for few days after verdict', says former cellmate

London, July 28 (ANI): A former cellmate of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman who has been sentenced to death by stoning on 'adultery' charges, at Evin prison in Iran, said she fainted on hearing the verdict and looked 'a ghost wandering in shock' for few days.

The BBC quoted 42-year-old Shahnaz Gholami, whose political activities in support of Azari minorities put her in jail for more than four years in Iran, as saying that in mid-November 2008, the guards handcuffed Ashtiani and Gholami and took them to the court.

"She fainted in shock after we returned from the court. For few days, she was like a ghost wandering in shock, but when she came back to her senses, she just cried and I didn't see her without crying until the last day I spent time with her in prison."

She also said that during the 15-minute journey to the court from the prison, she was just worried for her children and wasn't expecting anything as weird as stoning. However, when she met her again after the court, she was 'absolutely speechless'.

"To be among those murderers and live with them is a daily torture for Sakineh, whose tender nature had made her exceptional in the block for everyone," Gholami said. (ANI)