By Mohammad
Marina Sadat was detained by the Taliban morality police from the Dasht-e Barchi neighborhood of Kabul in December. The Taliban was just beginning to step up its brutal campaign of arresting women and girls in Afghanistan’s capital city over allegedly improper clothing.
Marina’s family desperately searched for news of her from Taliban authorities for 22 days. Then, Marina’s battered body showed up in a river.
Not long after, her parents were arrested for murder.
Sources close to the family say it’s a Taliban cover up. Meanwhile, Marina’s three brothers and a sister have gone into hiding out of fear of further Taliban action.
Family sources say the condition of Marina’s parents is unknown. They have been held for three months with no information about their fate.
A determined student
Marina was a Bachelor of Computer Science at Kabul University when the Taliban seized power in August 2021. She joined the street demonstrations against the ban on girls’ high school education, and then against the ban on female students from universities.
After being prevented from continuing computer science, Marina eventually decided to pursue midwifery at the Farabi Institute in Kabul.
The 23-year-old began her new course last year including doing internships at the Darul Sehat and Darul Salam hospitals in Kabul city’s Company area.
On the morning of December 19, Marina and her brother Abdul Majid, 18, left home together as usual. She was headed to the Farabi Institute, while Abdul Majid was going to the Kawsar Educational Center.
Marina was detained by the Taliban just minutes after they went their separate ways as she headed toward Estgah-e-Nanwayi area around 9.30am.
Marina’s ID card from the Farabi Institute. Photo: Supplied
Has anyone seen Marina?
Her family were concerned when Marina didn’t return home at her scheduled time.
Abdul Majid began calling around the places Marina might be – the Farabi Institute, Marina’s classmates, the hospitals Marina interned at.
They all replied that they hadn’t seen Marina that day.
After throwing their search wider and wider, Marina’s family soon began to fear that she had been detained by the Taliban. So they went to the local Taliban authorities. No one could tell them anything.
The next day, Marina’s father and brothers visited more Taliban police stations, but there appeared to be no trace of Marina.
After two weeks of relentless searching and no answers, Marina’s family went to the Taliban’s Ministry of Vice and Virtue. The Taliban had no record of her, but another detained woman from the Sadat’s extended family told them Marina had spent a week there before being transferred a few days earlier.
Marina’s body. Photo: Supplied
Marina is found
On January 10, a lawyer named Gudar called Marina’s father to tell him Marina might be in Taliban custody in the Paghman district.
As it turned out, he had information that Marina’s body had been discovered but he didn’t want to tell them over the phone.
According to a family source, Marina’s body was lying in a stream in Paghman’s Chowk-e-Argandi area. When Marina’s father, mother, and two of her brothers went to the district, Taliban forces took them to the body.
Signs of torture
The parts of Marina’s body that were visible showed signs of having been beaten, with bruising on her neck that looked like strangulation.
The source said that Marina was almost unrecognizable, but they confirmed it was her from what she’d been wearing when she left home 22 days earlier.
She had a black Arab-style hijab with gold patterns, a floral-colored scarf, and white canvas shoes.
The source said Marina’s parents were overwhelmed and went into a stunned shock. Her 16-year-old brother screamed out loud when he realized it was his sister. Abdul Majid, who was also present, later said he didn’t say anything to the Taliban present as he was scared that if they said anything it could put the whole family in trouble.
Denial of due process
The Taliban refused to allow Marina’s body to undergo forensic examination for the family to have more information about how she died and who might be responsible. Instead, a source close to the family said they felt pressured to bury her as soon as possible.
Marina’s body was transferred to the Imam Reza Mosque in Kabul’s Khoshal Khan Mina area and she was buried in the afternoon on the same day.
On January 14, the Sadat family held a larger funeral in Dasht-e Barchi. In the funeral announcement, they referred to Marina as a “martyr”.
But after the funeral, Marina’s parents still wanted answers. They decided to seek them from the Taliban Ministry of Vice and Virtue.
When Marina’s parents went to the Taliban office, they accused the Taliban of injustice against their daughter, saying she would not have warranted detention as she was always modestly dressed.
Then they accused the Taliban of torture and murder.
They were met by the Taliban authorities present with threats to kill them.
When Marina’s parents returned home, despairing about the response they’d received, they shared what had happened with their family and close neighbors. The advice from their friends was clear – they need to leave their house immediately. So Marina’s family packed some belongings and left.
Only a few days later, Taliban forces stormed into the Sadat family home, breaking the door and ransacking the house. They sought out documents and had taken them out of the house.
According to people living nearby, even the neighbors were harassed, with Taliban forces trying to get them to reveal where the Sadat’s had gone.
The Taliban raid on their home terrified Marina’s family. With few options of where to turn, they decided the best way to be safe from the Taliban was to flee to Iran, as so many others had done.
Marina’s parents, her three brothers, and seven-year-old sister all headed to Nimroz province to find a way across the border quickly. But there were too many hurdles to making the journey and paying the passage.
Eventually, on February 14, they made a fateful re-entry to Kabul.
The capture and detention of Marina’s parents
It was 11pm when they were recognized at a checkpoint in Kabul’s Chawk-e Argandi area. Armed Talibs blocked their van from leaving and ordered the family out. Their hands were tied together and they were blindfolded before being transported to an unknown location and imprisoned.
All of them, including Marina’s parents and seven-year-old sister, were savagely hit during the process.
About a week later, Marina’s siblings were released after some guards apparently took pity on them. At around midnight on February 20, the four of them were released into the street where they found themselves in Kabul’s Golaye Dawakhana area.
Since then, all attempts by relatives and friends to secure the release of Marina’s parents have failed. The Taliban has slowly silenced the efforts with further threats of reprisal if representations continue.
Despite the months of asking, a source close to the family said there is still no information about their situation or even where they’re being held.
