A man in Herat is arrested by the Taliban police on Wednesday, September 22, for repeatedly arranging for his sister to be married against her will and receiving money from those suitors.
A person in Herat with information about the matter told Zan Times, “The person arrested is from Herat and had forced his sister into marriages three times in the past year.”
According to the man, who requested anonymity, the woman is about 25 years old and was forcibly married to people in Ghor, Badghis, and Farah provinces.
The source also said that the woman’s brother has received up to 300 thousand afghanis as bride price.
She was first sold into marriage to a man in Herat. After that, without legally divorcing in the last year she was sold again into marriages with men in Farah, Badghis, and Ghor provinces respectively.
According to the source, the brother was arrested after his sister complained to the Taliban police.
Mahmoud Shah Rasouli, the spokesman of the Taliban police in Herat, confirmed the story of the brother repeatedly selling his sister into marriage as well as his arrest, saying, “The man has confessed to the charges against him.”
Forced marriages of women and children have increased in an unprecedented way since the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban took over, Human rights organizations and the United Nations have called the situation of women in Afghanistan catastrophic.
They hold the Taliban responsible for creating the situation and have repeatedly called on them to respect human rights.
