Families of girls and women being detained by the Taliban de facto authorities for “improper hijab” say they are not allowed to see them or receive information about their whereabouts.
Several more people have been arrested in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul in the past few days as Taliban forces enforce a strict dress code.
The Taliban’s morality police, connected to its Ministry of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, targeted more women and girls in Khairkhana and Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhoods of Kabul city on Monday.
Dasht-e-Barchi resident Ferishta told Rukhshana Media that her older sister, an intern at a private hospital, was one of several women arrested in Pol-e-Khoshk area of the neighbourhood on Monday.
“At around 10am in the morning, when my sister and one of her colleagues left the hospital, the security forces arrested them and took them away,” she said.
“My brother went to the local elders and they went to the police district. But the Taliban did not even allow them to enter saying that there were many women and girls inside.”
“Most of the girls still haven’t told [the Taliban] their identity. The Taliban told my brother ‘Until they tell their names and details, we will not know who you are looking for’.”
When Fereshta’s brother continued to beg for his sister’s release, a Talib guard told him, “What have you taught your sisters? They don’t even say their names. We will teach them a lesson so that they will never forget what their names are.”
Fereshta’s sister is still in Taliban custody, she said.
Khairkhana resident Lima said she understands that Taliban forces have arrested about ten women and girls from the shops and roads of her area under the pretext of inappropriate clothing or behaviour.
“The morality police are asking women and girls these questions like, Why are they wearing men’s shoes? Why are they wearing tight pants? Why are their dresses short,” Lima says. “Then they’re arrested and transferred to an unknown place.”
Lima said there was nothing inappropriate with the women or girls’ clothing that she had seen.
The Taliban are detaining the women and girls without informing their families of their whereabouts, with most of them forced to spend at least a day or two being detained, Lima said.
It is unknown exactly how many women and girls have been arrested since the Taliban’s crackdown began on January 1.
Dozens of women and girls from various areas in Kabul, including Taimani project and west Kabul are understood to still being held without charge.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has said in an interview with a local media outlet that the group detained some women and girls for punishment.
He said in the interview that the Vice and Virtue department has reports that a group of women have been hired by foreign circles to promote an improper hijab in the cities.
In a post on X, the Vice and virtue department denied women in Kabul are being arrested saying the claim was “far from reality”.
The department shared a nondescript photo of women and girls with none of their faces showing, saying their forces are rounding up beggars from the city to determine their biometrics.
The department also accused news outlets stationed abroad of “malicious media” for publishing stories about the Taliban arresting women and girls because of the hijab.
