KABUL (Agencies): Her face showed that she had accepted the forced marriage with no other option. She looked resigned, knowing there was no way out, but she carried it with a heavy heart.
International organizations are aware that early and forced marriages, as well as the sale of underage girls in the name of marriage, are ongoing issues in Afghanistan. These issues often involve heartbreaking personal stories of human rights violations. This report features the story of a victim of forced marriage who once aspired to wear a doctor’s white coat.
Just one week ago, Gul Afrouz was detained along with a group of girls on charges of “improper dress” by the authorities promoting virtue and preventing vice. When her father and brothers released her from custody and brought her home, they decided to marry her off the same night.
Gul Afrouz says she is supposed to be married to a man whom she barely knows. She feels trapped and exclaims with despair and anger, “Why should I get married just because the Taliban imprisoned me? Wasn’t it my own choice?”
Over the past month, Taliban authorities have detained many girls, mostly from western Kabul, on charges of “improper dress.” Most of these girls were released on bail after spending at most one night in detention, but according to Gul Afrouz, the situation is different for girls who were subjected to the “Taliban prison experience.”
Like thousands of other girls, she had her own dreams. Pursuing an education and securing a respectable job topped her list of aspirations. She says, “I had a dream of becoming a doctor. I had a strong fascination with the white coats that doctors wear. Whenever I saw them, I felt inspired.”
Before the Taliban took over, Gul Afrouz worked half a day at a beauty salon to cover her university expenses. While gazing at the scattered flowers, she recounts, “First, we lost our freedom of choice in clothing, then they deprived us of education, threatened beauticians, closed the doors of beauty salons, issued a ban on women working, and… How far will this situation continue?” Gul Afrouz’s mother, who is herself a victim of forced marriage, told Khaama Press, “Gul Afrouz had gone to buy a cake from the market for Mother’s Day, but due to her ill-fate, Taliban took my daughter to their police station because she was not wearing a hijab.”
According to Gul’s mother, “It’s been a week; she hasn’t eaten properly, nor does she sleep well. She’s like a statue. Whatever we say, she just does it. I curse the day I brought this girl into the world.” She continues, “Taking a young girl to the police station is a stain of shame. My daughter has no honour left among our tribe and relatives. They laugh at my grey hair and the pride of my children, saying that a certain girl was taken to the police station.”
Gul Afrouz has not spoken about her experience of detention by the Taliban. She has not shared her experiences even with her family members. However, her mother reveals that her daughter has not been in good spirits since her detention.
