This narrative was recounted by Mursal* to Zan Times:
It was around 4:30 in the afternoon on January 8 of this year. My colleague, Marwa, and I had just finished work and were discussing the day’s events when my arm was suddenly grabbed from behind. I screamed, and when I turned around, I saw that the person holding me was a woman with a covered face and black clothing. I tried to disentangle myself, but she forcefully pulled me toward a Taliban Ranger vehicle, which already had more than 10 women in its truck bed.
“Where are you taking me? What mistake have I made?” I shouted to her. The woman didn’t answer but her grip tightened to the point that I felt intense pain. I struggled to free myself, but couldn’t succeed. At that moment, my only thought was to get rid of my mobile phone – I threw it into a sewer. Finally, several Taliban militants went to the woman’s aid and forced Marwa and me to climb into the back of the Ranger. We were taken to the Police Station 13 District of Kabul. I didn’t recognize any of the other young women. They were all crying. The Taliban seized the girls’ mobile phones, looking for incriminating information, while others took each girl into the interrogation room, where we could hear the Taliban insulting and torturing them.
I was crying and afraid when it was my turn to be forcibly taken into the interrogation room. Through my tears, I asked, “What is my crime? And why have you brought me here?” One of the Taliban said, “You are an infidel. You are a whore.” Another shouted, “All Hazaras are infidels.” The lead interrogator asked, “Tell me how you pray and recite the Shahada words [the profession of Muslim faith].” He continued, “You are a disgrace and do not have the proper hijab.” I responded, “I am properly veiled with a chador, a mask, and a long veil. What wrong have I done to be brought here?”
One of them yelled, “Stay silent, whore! Why did you wear white men’s shoes? You have no right to wear men’s shoes.” Others hit me with their fists and kicked me because I’d dared to speak. One grabbed my hair and submerged my head in water. I was breathless – I thought I was going to die.
I spent a night and a day in their custody before my family located me and my brother and father arrived at the police station. “Your daughter is unveiled, and to prevent her from unveiling again, you must pay 160,000 afghani,” a Taliban member told my father. My brother borrowed money to secure my release and handed over ownership documents of our family’s house. In addition to warning me not to talk to the media, they biometrically registered me before finally allowing me to leave with my father and brother. They also issued a threat: If I was seen unveiled again, they would never release me.
Currently, I am in a terrible mental state. I don’t know the location or condition of my colleague, Marwa. And I can’t forget the brutality inflicted on me because I am a girl. I remember their insults and beatings when I close my eyes at night. I remember those awful moments when they submerged my head in water, and my breath was cut off. Even thinking about it causes my whole body to tremble with stress.
After my abduction, my family will no longer allow me to go to work. My family will be disgraced if our relatives find out that I, a young woman, had been detained by the Taliban. I am 20, yet my dreams are completely shattered. I am tired of this life and, in every moment, I wish for death.
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the interviewees.
