Following the Taliban’s Detainment of Girls and Women, citing dress code violations, in various Hazara and Tajik-populated areas of Kabul and other provinces, the Taliban’s arbitrary actions persist. In the recent incident, they detained numerous young girls and teenagers from Dasht-e Barchi, Khairkhana, and Kart-e Char regions of Kabul for not conforming to their dress code, wearing white scarves and colorful trousers, and subjected them to violence, torture, and beatings. Some of the girls, held in Taliban prisons for days, were released upon payment and guarantees from their families, pressured by both family and community. These girls face stringent restrictions from their families and social isolation. According to reports from relatives and friends, some of the detained girls have attempted suicide.
Meanwhile, residents of the Dasht-e Barchi region in Kabul report that the Taliban’s moral police not only patrol public roads but also roam the streets and alleys, detaining women and girls from their homes and transferring them to unknown locations.
Razia, a resident of the Dasht-e Barchi region in Kabul, recalls an incident on Saturday, February 27, where the Taliban detained a fully veiled girl in black attire near the Barchi Center mall. She was taken from the street close to the mall for wearing a white scarf and blue cowboy trousers. Razia recounted, “It was 9 in the morning, and I was heading towards my classes when people had gathered in the lower street of Barchi Center Mall near Imam Ali Mosque. Although I was frightened, I approached and saw the Taliban detaining a girl, fully veiled in black attire, including a black veil and mask, for wearing a white scarf and blue cowboy trousers, and took her away.”
She mentions that recently, the responsibility for detaining girls lies with the women’s department of the Taliban’s moral police. These women torture and beat the detained girls during the process. Last week, they detained two girls from the Doghabad area of the Dasht-e Barchi region in Kabul near their homes. She explains, “Last week, at the end of our alley, they first beat and then forcibly took two girls into a car and drove away. Some women in our area who were there asked why they were beating the girls while taking them away. Those same moral policewomen, with very harsh behavior, turned to them and told them not to talk too much so they wouldn’t be beaten as well.”
Zahid (pseudonym), a resident of Kabul’s Khairkhana area, recalls witnessing the detention of a mother and daughter from Kabul’s Karte Char area last Thursday on his way home from duty. He describes, “The crowd was large, and from inside the car, I could see a Taliban ranger parked, with female members of the Taliban’s moral police forcibly loading a mother and daughter into it. The mother alternated between pleading and begging, and screaming, attempting to protect herself and her daughter from them.”
Video clips released depict the Taliban, aided by female moral police, violently detaining girls from Kabul’s Dasht-e Barchi and Khairkhana areas, transporting them forcefully, and subjecting them to torture inside vehicles. These clips also highlight that the girls detained by the Taliban are more veiled than the female moral police.
However, a close relative of one of the detained girls, speaking on the condition of anonymity, informed the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the Taliban apprehended his first cousin two weeks ago from the Pul-e Khoshk area of Dasht-e Barchi. She was held captive for three days before the group released her in exchange for fifty thousand Afghanis from her family. He further disclosed that upon her release, his cousin had been placed under house arrest by her family, who had imposed strict restrictions, forbidding anyone from contacting her. He expressed, “The condition of my cousin post-release remains undisclosed. Her family prohibits any visits or communication, emphasizing the need for confidentiality regarding her situation. There is a prevailing fear that she might succumb to immense familial pressure and community gossip, potentially leading to suicide.”
It is worth mentioning that many of the detained girls succumb to societal and familial pressures while enduring their situation. Their families impose the strictest restrictions on them after their release, denying them the freedom to speak or leave their homes. These families strive to keep the detention of their daughters concealed from the public eye, and therefore, they refrain from engaging with any media outlets. According to accounts from the detained girls and their close friends, some of these girls have also resorted to suicide due to family pressure and public gossip.
Ferishta, a female student who works in a tailoring factory after the closure of universities, recounts that the Taliban detained one of her coworkers from the neighborhood a few weeks ago for not adhering to their prescribed veil. However, after her release, the coworker committed suicide. Ferishta says, “My coworker didn’t show up in the afternoon. When she came later, she seemed distressed, as if she had been crying. I asked her what happened, and she said the Taliban had detained her neighbor’s daughter a while back for not wearing the veil, and today I found out she committed suicide due to family pressure and public gossip. They brought her body to the mosque today for the funeral and Quran recitation, and I learned about the incident from other neighbors who attended the funeral.”
It is worth noting that the Taliban’s oppressive and misogynistic actions have elicited widespread reactions from political activists, Taliban critics, and international organizations. In the latest development, Afghan human rights activists have issued a statement urging all Afghan citizens, especially religious scholars, community leaders, and influential figures, to condemn the “inhumane” actions of the Taliban, which violate the dignity and honor of Afghan women and girls, contradicting the religious teachings, culture, and norms of Afghan society. They continue to call on international bodies, including the UNAMA and UN Special Rapporteurs, to thoroughly document and report on these “inhumane” crimes committed by the Taliban from all perspectives, and to prevent the institutionalization of these “anti-human” practices by any means possible.
