KABUL (SW) – Reports compiled by Salam Watandar indicate a worrisome rise in cases of violence, particularly assassination of women, across the country.
Statistics by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs show that in the past six months, there have been 3,871 incidents of violence against women across the country. Roya Dadras, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Women's Affairs, said that in the first six months of this solar year, 64 cases of acute violence against women were recorded, of which at least 10 occurred in areas under Taliban rule.
He said the violence in the Taliban-held areas could not been taken into account by the ministry.
On Sept. 20, Taliban militants shot dead a woman in Sancharak district of Sar-e-Pul province. Naqibullah Daqiq, the Sancharak district governor of Sar-i-Pul province, said Taliban militants shot and killed the 28-year-old woman in the village of Takha Khawaja. A local source said Taliban members shot the woman for having an alleged ‘illicit’ affair.
This woman's name was Aisha and she is survived by three children.
Officials of the Sar-e-Pul Women's Affairs Department said that since the beginning of this solar year, 15 murders have been registered in Taliban-controlled areas in the province. The village of Takha Khawaja has been under Taliban rule for two years.
On Sept. 19, a man shot his 17-year-old wife in the Rustaq district of Takhar. The woman's sister told Salam Watandar that 30 bullets were fired at her sister's chest.
On Sept. 16, a man stabbed his ex-wife to death and wounded his daughter in Nimroz province. A local source in Nimroz province said the incident took place when Hassan wanted to take charge of his daughter via a Jirga after several years of separation from his ex-wife Sadeqa, but was opposed.
Meanwhile, another man shot his wife's sister as well as his own sister in the province. Bahram Haqmal, head of the Nimroz governor's media office, said the man named Ehsanullah had shot his wife and sister-in-law in the village of Mirabad in the Chahar Burjak district of the province.
On Sept. 26, the Kandahar Police Command announced the discovery of the body of a woman with a covered head and face in the province. Jamal Nasser Barakzai, spokesman for the Kandahar Police Command, told Salam Watandar that people had found the body in the town of Eino Mina in Kandahar and had informed the police.
Local officials in Badghis also say the Taliban shot dead a woman on the Badghis – Herat highway. Badghis police chief Mahfouz Valizada told Salam Watandar that the woman had been shot by the Taliban on the Badghis – Herat highway. According to him, the incident took place in Laman area.
According to the Badghis police chief, the woman had recently separated from her drug-addicted husband, who lives in the Laman area.
Officials at the Kunduz police headquarters also reported the shooting of a female police officer by the Taliban in the province. Hijratullah Akbari, a spokesman for the Kunduz police command, said the Taliban had taken the woman, Salehe, from the center of Kunduz city to the "Shurakhak" area of the city and then killed her.
Officials at the Ministry of Women's Affairs said that of the 3,871 recorded incidents of violence against women, 770 were civil, 1,114 were domestic and 206 were criminal in nature. As per the official figures, a total of 396 cases were settled through conciliation and mediation, and free counsel was obtained for another 366 cases.
The Ministry of Women's Affairs officials cite coronavirus outbreak, quarantine, stress and deteriorating economy as among the leading factors behind increasing violence against women.
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