Sources from Badghis Province say that “Bibi Sediqa” has been imprisoned by the Taliban after refusing to enter into a forced marriage with an elderly man.
Sources told the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Saturday, June 27, that Bibi Sediqa, daughter of Rajab, is a resident of Murichaq village in Bala Murghab district of Badghis Province and has been struggling with the issue of forced marriage for the past five years.
According to the sources, when the girl was only 12 years old, she was forcibly taken to the home of a man named Khoday Nazar because of her father’s debt.
The sources described Khoday Nazar as a local influential figure and a supporter of the Taliban, saying that his word is effectively the law in the area.
According to the sources, after being held captive for six months in Khoday Nazar’s house, Sediqa was released through the mediation of tribal elders and subsequently placed under Taliban supervision.
According to the information available, after Sediqa’s case was referred to the Taliban’s primary and appellate courts in Badghis, Taliban judges told her that she must either marry Khoday Nazar or go to prison. Sediqa rejected the proposal, and the judges subsequently sentenced her to imprisonment.
According to the sources, Sediqa’s family pursued her case all the way to the office of the Taliban Supreme Leader in Kandahar. However, on November 5, 2024, the Taliban Supreme Court in Kandahar verbally ordered her detention.
According to the sources, Sediqa, who is now 17 years old, was recently transferred from Kandahar to Qala-e-Naw prison in Badghis, where she remains behind bars.
The sources explained that throughout this period, the only person who defended and supported Sediqa and her family as their legal representative was a man named Arbab Hamed, who was himself assassinated under suspicious circumstances two years ago in the Khwaja Kala area of Herat city.
According to the sources, it has never been determined whether Arbab Hamed’s assassination was linked to his legal representation of Sediqa or to other factors.
However, the available information indicates that Khoday Nazar, son of Ghulam Rasool, is about 70 years old and, according to Sediqa’s family, has three wives.
It has been reported that about one year ago, he was employed with the Taliban military corps in Herat, but no verified information has been available during the past six months regarding his position or place of service.
According to Sediqa’s family, after several years, the Taliban’s primary and appellate courts in Badghis ruled in Sediqa’s favor. However, approximately two years later, the Taliban Supreme Court in Kandahar verbally issued a ruling against her, and she has remained imprisoned ever since.
