Bahara Karimi, a 22-year-old student and activist, is in Taliban custody for more than a month after her arrest from her home in Kabul on October 17, as confirmed by sources.
Sources said that her family has been “threatened” to refrain from discussing her arrest with the media. Karimi is the fifth woman to be apprehended by the Taliban in the past two months.
Her friends recounted that she was taken into custody from her home, where she was with her mother. The Taliban reportedly handcuffed her in front of her mother before taking her away.
According to her friends, Karimi was arrested for protesting Taliban policies in a video recorded on March 8 at a school with some classmates.
“At this education center, the women in the video celebrated Women’s Day, chanting slogans of women activists in a light-hearted manner. This issue was reported to Taliban intelligence seven months after the video, leading to her arrest on October 7,” explained Monisa Mubariz, chairperson of Afghan Women’s Protesting Movement.
Bahara Karimi’s detention follows the arrests of Neda Parwani, Zholia Parsi, Manizha Seddiqi, and Parisa Azada, all of whom were detained by Taliban intelligence in the past two months for protesting against Taliban policies.
Shamayil Tawana Naseri, head of the Women’s Movement for Freedom and Justice, expressed concern about the trend, stating, “The continuation of this trend will hamper women’s morale, and in the long run, it will leave irreversible impacts.”
The United Nations has emphasized that the reintegration of Afghanistan into the global community under Taliban rule requires the inclusion of Afghan women in all structures.
Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, they have imposed restrictions on women, including bans on education and work, as well as other social limitations.
These restrictions have sparked reactions from Afghan women protestors, leading to arrests by the Taliban in some cases.
