A young woman accused a former Taliban official of assaulting, raping and forcing her to marry him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a video message shared on social media on Tuesday, August 30, Elaha Delawarzai said Qari Saeed Khosti, the Taliban\u2019s former spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, first raped her in an intellegence agency office where she was held in custody, then forcing her to marry him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was beaten a lot,\u201d she said, covering her face with both hands while crying. \u201cI was raped there, I didn\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSaeed Khosti filmed me, and threatened to publish it,\u201d added Delawarzai, who is a student at Kabul Medical University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delawarzai added she tried to flee Afghanistan to Pakistan but she was detained at Torkham border pass. The Taliban forced her to \u201capologize\u201d and \u201ckiss\u201d Khosti\u2019s feet after she was caught at the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delawarzai’s video went viral quickly, with many Afghans on social media, voicing support for her and condemning the \u201crapist\u201d Khosti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khosti denied the accusations. He said the marriage was consensual, and that the proposal came from Delawarzai six months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t hit her,\u201d he said in a tweet. \u201cUsing my Sharia (legal) rights, I parted ways with her, and divorced her.\u201d He added Delawarzai insulted Islamic values, an accusation that could put her life at risk under the Taliban government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saeed Khosti isn’t alone. Many Taliban officials have married for the second, third and fourth time after the group seized power one year ago, despite their supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhunzada, ordering them to \u201cavoid\u201d marrying more than once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently, Shamsuddin, a Taliban district governor in northeastern province of Takhar, made the headlines after he married two women in the span of one week, despite having a wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of these marriages involving Taliban officials could have been forced upon women, most of whom live in rural areas, and aren\u2019t as educated as Delawarzai to protest against forced marriage and raise their voice on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Delawarzai was transferred into a safe house after her video went viral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delawarzai warned yesterday that she could get killed for sharing the video message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo one will probably see me after the publication of this video. I will probably die,\u201d she said, wiping her tears. \u201cBut it is better to die once than to die again and again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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