RASC News Agency: Local sources in Kunduz Province report that Mawlawi Amanullah Hassan, the Taliban’s Director of Agriculture in Kunduz, has been removed from his position due to his involvement in a forced marriage with the fiancée of another Taliban fighter.
Sources informed the media on Thursday, August 22, that Hassan was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Taliban’s Supreme Court. This sentence stems from his involvement in a forced marriage, in which he paid seven million kabuli rupees to the family of a girl who was previously engaged to a Taliban fighter in Imam Sahib District, Kunduz. Nearly two years ago, Hassan, for the third time, forced this young woman into marriage after securing her divorce from her former fiancé through three separate court hearings.
According to the sources, in addition to the seven million kabuli rupees paid to the girl’s family, Hassan spent approximately two million kabuli rupees on court expenses and the wedding ceremony. The former Taliban Agriculture Chief is currently residing in Kabul. It is noteworthy that last year, this same Taliban official used funds from the Agriculture Directorate’s budget to send all three of his wives on the obligatory Hajj pilgrimage.
This incident is not isolated, as previous reports have surfaced about forced marriages involving Taliban officials and fighters across the country. What is striking in this case is that Hassan faced imprisonment only after marrying another Taliban member’s fiancee, whereas the Taliban have forcibly married hundreds of Afghanistani women and girls without facing any legal consequences. Victims who have sought justice in Taliban courts have often been met with violence and suppression.
