RASC News Agency: Local sources from Kunduz province report that the Taliban have imprisoned a girl in the provincial capital for refusing a forced marriage. These sources informed the media on Saturday, June 29, that the Taliban have detained the girl and her father for the past four days in the center of Kunduz province.
According to sources, Mawlawi Rahmatullah Hanafi, head of the Criminal Court of the Kunduz City Primary Court, has threatened that if the girl does not consent to the marriage, he will officiate the wedding next Saturday. The girl, named Shayesta, was reportedly engaged a year ago by her father’s decision to a man she has never met. Sources indicate that Shayesta, 25 and a vaccinator by profession, refuses to marry a man she does not know. It is noted that her fiance enjoys the support of the Taliban.
Forced and early marriages among girls have surged since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, becoming a significant concern for United Nations human rights organizations. Additionally, Taliban commanders have engaged in polygamy despite a ban on the practice by the group’s leader. This trend continues unabated.
Reports have previously indicated that the Taliban detain girls without any documentation or reason and force them into marriages with their members. There have also been numerous reports of sexual assault on detained girls and women by the Taliban. Several incarcerated women have disclosed these illicit acts committed by the group.
