Taliban arrested a groom for playing music at his own wedding party in Taloqan city, the capital of Takhar province, residents tell Zan Times. He was detained for two hours before being released.
The Taliban arrived at the celebration at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 2, a guest at the wedding tells Zan Times. According to him, that is when the wedding turned into a night of terror and fear.
“When the Taliban entered the hotel, they went straight to the women’s hall and tried arresting the groom,” the guest said. “When women tried to stop them, the Taliban gunmen violently attacked the women and took the groom out of the hall along with the musical instruments.”
Another guest of the party also confirmed the events at the wedding reception, saying, “The Taliban took the groom along with the hotel manager and some family elders and put them under surveillance and interrogation for two and a half hours.” She says that the groom was finally released after more than two hours due to the mediation of community elders.
That source reports that the Taliban warned the hotel manager not to continue to play music at wedding events.
Since the Taliban regained power, the production, distribution, and listening of music has been banned in Afghanistan. And even if residents bribe individual members of the Taliban for permission to play music at weddings, other Taliban have violently broken up those same events. On October 15, the Taliban attacked a wedding party in Kandahar city and killed the groom for playing music.
