With the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the country’s normalcy drastically changed. This transformation affected all significant aspects, including Afghanistan’s economic, security, social, women’s rights, human rights, cultural, and educational sectors
Among the most vulnerable groups in Afghan society experiencing severe adversity under the Taliban’s rule are women, girls, minorities, and children. From the moment the Taliban took over on August 15, 2021, girls were banned from receiving education. Additionally, women were stripped of their rights to work, participate, and make decisions in any societal domain.
The situation was particularly dire for individuals, especially women, who held various positions in the former Afghanistan government and non-governmental sectors. With the Taliban’s rise to power, these women were pursued, arrested, tortured in different forms, or disappeared. Numerous reports of women’s rights violations, as well as ethnic and religious minority abuses by the Taliban, have reached regional and global audiences. However, regional and international communities have not taken any significant action to address the dire situation in Afghanistan.
However, recently, the Persian section of Deutsche Welle network conducted an interview with one of the women in the previous government of Afghanistan who was tortured in the Taliban prison, which brought the horrifying and shocking stories to the attention of regional and global observers.
Ms. Lylama Dulatzi, former head of the Women’s Council in the Chaharbolak district of Balkh province in northern Afghanistan, fled to the southern provinces with the Taliban’s arrival. However, she was captured and imprisoned by the Taliban. In her tearful interview with Deutsche Welle, recounting her bitter experiences in the Taliban prison, Lylama says: “During the 16 days I was in the Taliban prison, I had no food or water, and there was no water to perform ablution and pray.”
Lylama also added, “I had no one to negotiate with the Taliban for my release. God saved me. One of the Taliban members saved me in (Exchange for a Bribe.) That’s how I escaped as a fugitive woman. They didn’t release me willingly; I escaped from the Taliban prison! I lost my entire life to save myself, and I paid 750,000Afs, equivalent to 10,000 US dollars, to secure my release.”
Despite this, Lylama recounts her torturous experiences in the Taliban prison to Deutsche Welle, stating that she endured severe torture. Ms. Dulatzi says, “On the fourth day in prison, a Taliban member came and cut parts of my thighs with a knife and sprinkled salt on my wounds. He was an interrogator, and he was demanding a confession. When my husband called me, I told him everything about my prison ordeal. After hearing about my experiences, my husband said he couldn’t live with the shame under the same roof with me; he apologized and divorced me.”
Lylama Dulatzi’s Horrifying Account of Torture in Taliban Prison