Afghanistan: Female student sexually assaulted, forced to marry by Taliban official

Kabul: An Afghan female medical student, Elaha, whose father was a former general in the National Security Directorate said that she was sexually assaulted and beaten by a Taliban official. Elaha, an Afghan student, published a video message on Twitter claiming that she was forced to marry Qari Saeed Khosti, the former spokesperson of the Taliban`s interior ministry. She said that she was raped and beaten many times during this period. Her New videos were leaked to Aamaj News. She said that the Taliban`s former interior ministry spokesman, Saeed Khosty, married her forcibly.

The sources say that Elaha's is in danger. Elaha told that she might be killed soon for recording this video, reported local media.Khosti is a senior Haqqani Taliban official. Notably, the Taliban has refused to allow female students to leave the Afghan capital to go to study in Kazakhstan and Qatar, reported Sputnik citing sources. The Taliban has banned Afghan women from working outside their homes and has introduced gender-based segregation in schools. Girls are not allowed to receive education beyond sixth grade. Moreover, the Taliban has forced all women to cover their faces while in public and women are not allowed to participate in entertainment activities and visit parks at the same time as men.

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After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021 and imposed policies severely restricting basic rights, particularly those of women and girls. Taliban decrees prohibit women from travelling unless accompanied by a male relative and require women`s faces to be covered in public--including women TV newscasters. Moreover, the Taliban dismantled the system to respond to gender-based violence, created new barriers to women accessing health care, blocked women`s aid workers from doing their jobs, and attacked women`s rights protesters.