Findings by the Hasht-e Subh Daily reveal that in early October 2025, a 13-year-old girl was subjected to gang rape at the provincial hospital in Takhar. According to the report’s findings, the girl was staying as a companion to one of the patients in the hospital’s ICU ward. At the same time, sources emphasize that the groundwork for this sexual assault was laid by a female janitor at the hospital. According to sources, she was raped 12 times, and following the incident, the ICU ward of the hospital was closed. In this report, the victim has been given a pseudonym.
The report’s findings indicate that the case has also reached the Taliban security agencies, and the Criminal Investigation Directorate of this group in Takhar has sent separate inquiries to the head of the Taliban’s Public Health Department and several employees accused in the rape case, summoning them to the provincial hospital and the group’s Public Health Department on charges of sexual assault.
The Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Taliban Police Command in Takhar, in its recent letter numbered 617, has sent a letter to the head of the Taliban’s Public Health Department requesting clarification on the case. In this inquiry, the head of the Public Health Department has been asked to introduce himself and also explain about the 13-year-old girl named Arifa (pseudonym), who is said to have been kept in the pediatric ward of the hospital for six days and raped.
The inquiry states: “Honorable Head of Public Health of Takhar Province [Taliban], write your full name, father’s name, age, original and current residence, and contact number.” In this letter, the head of the Taliban’s Public Health Department has also been asked to explain the anesthesia administered to Arifa and the sexual assault committed against her.
In one part of this inquiry, the head of the Public Health Department has been asked the following: “Miss Arifa (pseudonym), 13 years old, has stated in her complaint that she was kept in the pediatric ward rooms for six days and was given anesthetic tablets [by Ruqia]. Did your staff rape her during this time or not? If rape occurred, by whom, on what date, and at what location? Clearly write the full names of the individuals involved in the case.”
In the third paragraph of the inquiry from the Taliban Criminal Investigation Directorate, it is stated that Arifa was kept in the hospital for six days and raped. She then went with her mother to the provincial hospital administration to complain, but the hospital director and the complaints officer offered them a bribe to keep the matter hidden and prevent it from becoming official.
The Taliban Criminal Investigation Directorate has also confirmed that a video was taken of this 13-year-old girl and has asked the head of the Taliban hospital to explain this matter. The text of the inquiry states: “You have taken a video of the complainant, the 13-year-old victim Arifa, and her mother. In the recorded video, against which individuals and persons the complaint was made, and who has access to this video? Have you shared this case with the provincial authorities and investigative departments or not? Provide detailed information supported by documents and evidence.”
This inquiry also reveals the examination of the victim’s hymen and the concealment by officials of the Takhar provincial hospital to keep this case hidden. The inquiry shows that this 13-year-old girl was referred to specialists in the gynecology department after the sexual assault.
The text from the Taliban Criminal Investigation Directorate states: “Miss Arifa, after being kept and raped, was examined for virginity by specialist Aziza and your midwives without any official inquiry, in a shared room and in coordination with you and the complaints officer. What is the reason for your secrecy? Provide a response supported by documents.”
The inquiry also questions the hospital service employee who, after official working hours, works at the private clinic of the Takhar provincial hospital director and is accused of facilitating the sexual assault on this 13-year-old girl.
The text states: “Miss Raqia [Ruqia] was a trusted person of the hospital director and was hired by you; she works officially at the hospital and, after official hours, works at the hospital director’s private clinics for 3,000 afghanis. What is the reason for these actions? Provide detailed information.”
The inquiry from the Taliban Criminal Investigation Directorate in Takhar also exposes the payment of bribes to keep the case quiet. According to this document, Ruqia, one of the accused individuals, demanded a bribe of 100,000 Afghanis to prevent the case from becoming official. The text of the inquiry states: “Miss Rakia [Ruqia], in exchange for the rape, detention, and anesthetizing of the 13-year-old Arifa, promised 100,000 Afghanis, saying it would be taken from the individuals involved in the case and given to her so the matter would not become official. Which of your employees was paying this money? What information do you have about this, and provide detailed information.”
The letter from the Taliban Criminal Investigation Directorate in Takhar shows that the girl, after being kept in the hospital for six days, was transferred by “Aunt Ruqia” to the Namak Ab district of the province. In this letter, the head of the Taliban Public Health Department is asked: “What is the reason that Miss Arifa was kept in the hospital for six days, raped, then transferred and handed over by Raqia [Ruqia] to Namak Ab district, where she was raped again? Is the hospital administration a place for treating patients or for your employees and other individuals to engage in pimping? Provide detailed information on this matter.”
Additionally, the Taliban Criminal Investigation Directorate has summoned several employees of the Takhar provincial hospital. In the copy of the letter obtained by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, it is stated: “There is a need to summon the following-named individuals: Mohammad Asif Ahmadi, hospital director; Dr. Shujauddin Shariq, ICU in-charge; Naqibullah Hewadmal, complaints officer; and Gul Rahman, hospital guard of Takhar provincial hospital, so that you officially introduce the aforementioned individuals to this department through yourself so that the necessary proceedings can be carried out.”
Who is protecting the individuals accused of sexual assault at the Taloqan hospital?
Sources say that the protector of these individuals is “Mawlawi Khadim Darqadi,” the cousin of the head of the Taliban’s Public Health Department in Takhar. According to sources, Mawlawi Feroz, head of the office of the Taliban Directorate of Affairs and a close associate of the Public Health head of this group, as well as a resident of Darqad district in Takhar province, also protects the individuals accused of sexual assault. Sources add that Mohammad Bahij, deputy intelligence chief of the Taliban in Samangan, also supports the head of the Public Health Department of this group in Takhar. These sources emphasize that Sarwari from Khwaja Bahauddin district, the Taliban police commander in Khwaja Bahauddin, repeatedly contacts the Taliban criminal department in Taloqan to close the case and also threatens the victim girl’s family to drop the pursuit of this case.
Sources also say that Dr. Mohammad Asif, when he was working as the chief physician of the Covid-19 hospital, had hired “Aunt Ruqia” at that hospital. Later, when this doctor was appointed as the director of the provincial hospital, he brought Ruqia with him again to work at this hospital. According to sources, this woman is present at the hospital until 2 p.m. and then performs duties at the doctor’s private clinic. According to sources’ claims, through Ruqia’s facilitation, this 13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted both inside and outside the hospital.
Sources emphasize that this is the fourth case of sexual assault by the head of the Taliban’s Public Health Department and some health workers affiliated with this group in Takhar. According to sources, sexual assault cases have previously occurred at the hospital but were covered up. These sources describe the head of the Taliban’s Public Health Department in Takhar as a “debauched and foul-mouthed” person and say that he lacks the capacity to manage the department, people are fed up with his behavior and sexual assaults, and they have no authority to complain to or address their demands.
This comes as the Taliban have been accused of dozens of cases of underage sexual assault over the past four years. Previously, the Hasht-e Subh Daily, in multiple reports, has found that some women in Taliban prisons and detention centers have also been subjected to individual and gang rapes by the Taliban. Findings by the Hasht-e Subh Daily show that some women and girls have been sexually assaulted while detained in Taliban detention centers and prisons. During interrogations in detention centers, the Taliban demand that detainees undress, and anyone who refuses this order is severely tortured, to the point that their genitals are beaten.
You can read the Persian version of this investigative report here:
ٰدرمانگاه یا تجاوزگاه؟ تجاوز بر دختر ۱۳ ساله در شفاخانه تالقان
