Afghanistan’s High Shiite Council said on Thursday that Hussaindad Sharifi, a known Shiite cleric, had been beaten by Taliban morality enforcers, confirming reports that had circulated in recent days and calling for measures to prevent similar incidents.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the council said its representatives had met with officials from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to discuss the case involving Sharifi.
The council said it had urged Taliban to prevent what it described as “insulting” treatment of Shiite clerics.
According to the statement, the Taliban ministry promised to investigate the incident and share the outcome with the council.
Taliban have not publicly commented on the incident.
Reports published earlier said Taliban morality officers had taken Mr. Sharifi to Police District 18 in Kabul, where he was allegedly beaten and humiliated.
According to those accounts, the confrontation stemmed from Sharifi’s role in officiating the marriage contract of an engaged couple before their wedding ceremony.
Sources say Taliban morality enforcers detained the couple last Wednesday in the Dasht-e-Barchi area of western Kabul while they were shopping for their wedding, accusing them of maintaining an unlawful relationship outside marriage.
According to sources, the couple was transferred to a local police station despite presenting documentation showing that their religious marriage contract had already been formally conducted by Mr. Sharifi.
According to the local sources, Taliban officials rejected the validity of the marriage certificate and later summoned the cleric, where he was allegedly subjected to physical abuse and pressured into signing a written pledge before being released.
The case has drawn attention among Afghanistan’s Shiite community, which has previously expressed concern over the Taliban’s interpretation and enforcement of religious regulations.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban’s morality ministry has expanded enforcement of social and religious restrictions across the country, including rules governing dress, public behavior and gender relations.
Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized the ministry’s practices, saying Taliban have continued arbitrary enforcement and abuse under the banner of morality policing.
