Tribal elders, Afghan communities and international groups are calling on Taliban authorities to properly investigate a brutal gang rape of a mother and her two daughters in Sar-e Pol province two weeks ago.
Taliban authorities have confirmed the attack happened, but publicly deny it was carried out by members of their group, and have been instead threatening the victims and their relatives to not discuss the matter.
A source from the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence, who spoke to Rukhshana Media on condition of anonymity, confirmed that four members of the Taliban group were involved in the shocking sexual assault of the 40-year-old woman and her two daughters, aged 11 and 13.
When the victims’ relatives tried to follow up their case, the head of Taliban intelligence in Sar-e Pol threatened to kill them if they spoke about it. “They were told not to draw attention to the case,” the source said.
A local journalist in Sar-e Pol province said the 11-year-old girl is in a particularly bad condition with her injuries and is being kept in the provincial hospital, adding that the Taliban has prohibited the family from talking to the media and attempts to do interviews with relatives have been difficult. Another source has confirmed that the bodies of all three victims are badly bruised.
The attack happened on February 28 in Khanqa village of Suzma Qala district while Mohammad Ibrahim, the husband and father of the victims, was not at home. He is a taxi driver on the Mazar-e-Sharif-Sheberghan route and sometimes works at night.
The family live next door to the sister of the Taliban’s Sar-e Pol provincial governor, Abdul Rahman Aqa.
“Abdul Rahman’s sister is a neighbor of the mother and her daughters in the village, and the assailants knew that her husband was not at home,” Asil*, a local source, said. “The governor’s sister and that [Mohammad Ibrahim’s] family know each other and would visit each other’s homes.”
On Friday, relatives of the victims attempted to file a lawsuit against the attackers, and instead they were abused, according to another source, Baqir*.
“The rapists are relatives of the governor of Sar-e Pol province and not only was their case not followed up by security or the provincial authorities, unfortunately, the family, including the men of the family, received death threats and somehow the case was closed,” Baqir says. “No one dares to raise their voice in front of the governor and the head of intelligence, so unfortunately the family does not have any kind of support.”
A video tape that has been widely shared shows two burqa-clad women crying, including the mother who was attacked, and talking in Uzbeki language about the incident of that night.
The mother says the Taliban entered her house at eleven o’clock at night under the pretext of taking weapons. They tied her and her daughters’ hands and feet, and hit and raped them.
“There was a knock at the door and I told my daughter to see who it is,” the mother is heard saying in the video. “They entered the house by force, they raided down on us and did everything. First they raped the girls and then me. They turned off the lights. They took me by the hair and beat me with their Kalashnikovs.”
Some have accused members of the Taliban related to the provincial governor of being involved, including his half-brother and nephew.
“Mohammed Nader, Abdul Rahman Aqa’s co-brother, Mohammad Tahir, Aqa’s nephew, and Mawlawi Shabir, Mohammad Nader’s father-in-law entered the house of a man named Mohammad Ibrahim at night, beat his wife and daughters and sexually assaulted them,” Nabi*, a tribal elder in Khanqa village said.
According to Nabi, Mawlawi Shabir is member of the Taliban’s intelligence agency and Mohammad Tahir was a judge under the previous government. They are from the same village and neighborhood of Mohammad Ibrahim and his family.
Another source, a woman, said at least three people were involved in the rape case including Mohammad Tahir, Mohammad Nadir, and Mawlawi Shabir. All attempts by Rukhshana Media to speak with these people have been unsuccessful at the time of publication.
The tribal elder says that a few days ago, the head of Suzma Qala district asked the family of Mohammad Ibrahim to come to the district office, and they have not returned yet.
He says that the people of the village are extremely concerned and terrified since the incident, and they want the Taliban authorities to pursue the case seriously and bring justice to the victims.
Human rights institutions, including Amnesty International, have called on the Taliban to properly investigate and punish those who carried out the attack.
Zaman Sultani, South Asia Researcher at Amnesty International, expressed serious concern about the sexual assault, calling for a transparent and independent investigation.
“The emerging details of the gang rape of a woman and her daughters allegedly by members of the Taliban are a horrific new low in the abysmal record of human rights violations witnessed in today’s Afghanistan. The Taliban as the de facto authorities must condemn the incident and immediately launch an independent, transparent and impartial investigation into the allegations,” he said. “The perpetrators must be prosecuted and punished as per international human rights law and standards in fair trials and without recourse to the death penalty.”
Amnesty International has said that since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, they have violated the rights of women and girls, and dissolved institutions that support victims of violence, including the Ministry of Women Affairs, the Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan, the Law on Prohibition of Violence against Women.
Mr Sultani adds in the report, “The fresh allegation of sexual violence perpetuated by members of the Taliban raise concerns and yet again drive home the need for swift action by the de facto authorities to investigate abuses, bring those responsible to account through fair trial in a civilian court without the recourse to capital punishment. At the same time, survivors of sexual violence must be provided with access to justice, healthcare and support services, and effective and holistic reparations that are proportional to the gravity of the harm suffered.”
Local Taliban officials in Sar-e Pol have said that they have arrested two people in connection with the rape.
*Note: The names of the interviewees in this report are pseudonyms due to concerns about their security
