A local Taliban commander along with his close aides have reportedly gang-raped and tortured a young man in the northern province of Faryab.
“They blindfolded me and tied my hands and feet,” the victim Gul Mohammad, an ethnic Uzbek, told KabulNow about the ordeal. “They gang-raped, beat, and tortured me.”
The victim is a resident of Faryab’s Bilchiragh district where the reported case took place on June 18.
The Taliban commander, an ethnic Uzbek identified as only Bilal, along with his men stormed through Mohammad’s compound in Bilchiragh, dragged Mohammad, and took him away to their place before sexually assaulting him, people close to Mohammad recounted to KabulNow.
While members of the victim’s family and relatives rushed to the Taliban’s local police headquarters for help, they received little attention.
Two Taliban men, Qari Abubakr and Mullah Sibghatullah, tried to intervene but to no avail, said one of the victim’s relatives, whose name is withheld for fears of retribution.
He reported that members of Mohammad’s family had earlier asked for the hand of the half-sister of the Taliban commander Bilal, but they had not received a positive response.
He added that when Bilal learned about secret WhatsApp messages exchanged between Gul Mohammad and his half-sister, he was infuriated to commit the evil act.
Mohammad, who is currently receiving treatment at the province’s central hospital, showed signs of bruises on several parts of his body more than a week after the ordeal.
One of the doctors at the hospital told KabulNow, “The victim has regained his consciousness after undergoing two surgeries but remains in deep shock following the ordeal.”
Another disturbing video circulating on social media appears to show assaulters shoving a stick in the victim’s rectum.
Mohammad’s family has called for immediate action from the ruling authorities.
“I urge the Taliban to bring the perpetrators to justice for what they did to my son,” said Mahmood, the victim’s father.
Abdullah Muradi, Taliban’s spokesperson in the province, said an arrest warrant has been issued for about a dozen men, adding six suspects have been detained. Muradi did not provide further information about the case.
While the Taliban spokesperson claims the perpetrator is an “ordinary soldier” within the group, sources close to the victim’s family contend that Bilal, the Taliban commander, is a strong figure who exerts his power in the area.
“If Bilal was not a powerful commander, the Taliban authorities would have acted differently,” said the sources.
Matin Qanne, spokesperson for Taliban’s Interior Ministry, called the torture of the victim as “cruel.”
“The Ministry has ordered officials in Faryab province to hold the perpetrators of this shocking act to account immediately,” he wrote in a post on X.
Qanne, however, said the torture took place “inside the victim’s compound and was based on personal enmity,” a charge the victim’s family denies.
This piece was originally written by Khalid Mohammadi for Etilaatroz.
