The 20-year-old was picked up by Taliban forces while travelling to Takhar province from Afghanistan\u2019s capital Kabul. She was in the car with her niece when she was arrested in Takhar\u2019s Khos Kapa area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was December 30 and Taliban \u2018morality police\u2019 linked to the Department of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice had begun increasing their targeting of women over clothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Malala says she was in full Islamic garb with a long black chador, a long black headscarf covering her hair, and a black mask covering most of her face. But it was not an all-covering burqa, which would also cover her eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n photo: submitted to Rukhshana media. A doctor confirmed to Rukhshana Media from the images provided that the bruising and marks are consistent with the descriptions given by Malala.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFive Taliban forces without uniforms stopped our car and demanded that I give them my mobile phone. But when I refused, they hit me on the shoulder with their guns,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malala was studying law and political science while working at a telecommunications company before Afghanistan fell to the Taliban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She also knows the principles of her religion Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlthough they [the Taliban] insist they are implementing Islamic Sharia, Islamic law does not allow men to touch a women\u2019s hand \u2013 or force a phone from her hand. But they grabbed it and opened my phone and saw pictures of women\u2019s protests in the gallery. They told me, You\u2019re a spy and you\u2019re coming from Kabul to encourage the girls and women against us, to make them stand up against us,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malala tells Rukhshana Media she had never participated in the women\u2019s protests, but the photos had been shared with her and automatically saved to her photo gallery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Taliban didn\u2019t accept her explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Captors blame her for turning women against Taliban<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n They forced her and her niece into their vehicle and took them to the Vice and Virtue department in Takhar. She says she could hear the men telling each other, \u201cShe is the one who makes the girls and women stand against us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were transferred to a very dirty and dark room. A Talib was sitting on a chair. About 10 or 12 Taliban surrounded me and without any questions, they attacked me one by one with whips in their hands,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malalai says that one of the Taliban kicked her head and hit the area of her mouth with his boots. The blow damaged her braces and left her with profuse bleeding inside her mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey would beat me ten lashes very hard, and then they would laugh and give the whip to another hand and leave the room,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI thought I was going to die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arbitrary detention and punishment of women widespread<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Malala\u2019s report is similar to the many stories emerging of girls and women who have been in Taliban custody. Those who are willing to share their story have talked of how they were subjected to some form of physical and mental torture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan has also documented cases of torture and mistreatment of prisoners by the Taliban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn an attempt to obtain confessions or other information, detainees were subjected to severe pain and suffering through physical beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, stressful situations and forced drinking of water, as well as blindfolds and threats,\u201d UNAMA reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since January 1, a Taliban crackdown on women\u2019s clothing has led to dozens of arbitrary arrests, especially in west Kabul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of these women have said that if their families were contacted, they were forced to pay an amount of money for their release. Other families say they are not contacted at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Malala \u2013 who lives only with her mother in Kabul \u2013 her married sister in Takhar found out about her arrest from others who witnessed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malala\u2019s brother-in-law contacted Takhar\u2019s Vice and Virtue office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy sister’s husband told them that this girl lives with her old mother and came here [to Takhar] for a short visit. She doesn’t understand your rules, and she’s not a member of any women’s protest group either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After her release from Taliban detention, Malalai called her friend Zarghuna* via video call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI saw bruises and bleeding marks on her shoulders, arms, and legs due to her beatings through the video call. Seeing her like that was terrifying for me because I had heard about the torture and what was happening in the Taliban prisons, but I had never seen a girl who\u2019d been beaten up close,\u201d Zarghuna tells Rukhshana Media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zarghuna accompanied Malala\u2019s mother to collect her. She says Malala\u2019s mother fainted when she saw the injuries to her daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMalala’s mother suffers from a heart problem. As soon as she saw Malala, she screamed and cried, she threw herself into my arms, and fainted. We transferred her to the clinic near our house,\u201d Zarghuna says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zarghuna is angry at the international community\u2019s silence in the face of the Taliban, especially the United Nations which she feels has remained silent against the rule of a group that does not respect women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Malala, she continues to live in fear of the Taliban targeting her again after photos of her injuries where shared on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe situation is worrying, and I don’t know where to go and what to do, who to talk to, and who to consult with,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taliban authorities have refused to comment on these cases or have denied they happen at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: Names are chosen pseudonyms due to security reasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Malala believes she was targeted by the Taliban for merely not wearing a burqa. Then she was detained for photos on her phone of women\u2019s rights protests. But what she endured at the hands of Taliban forces while in custody has no justification.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"1","override":[{"template":"6","single_blog_custom":"","layout":"double-sidebar","sidebar":"","second_sidebar":"","share_position":"","share_float_style":"","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"","post_date_format_custom":"","show_post_category":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"","zoom_button_out_step":"1","zoom_button_in_step":"1","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"","single_post_gallery_size":""}],"trending_post_position":"","trending_post_label":"","sponsored_post_label":"","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":""},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[966,913],"tags":[5578,4689,7076],"class_list":["post-23128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-en","category-photos","tag-afghan-girl","tag-afghan-womens-rights","tag-womens-rights-activist"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/1-10-1024x576.webp\")
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