KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – A young woman ended her life in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on Monday, November 4, as suicides among women in the country continue to rise.
The young woman, as reported by local sources, took her own life in Marjah district, Helmand, with the incident being attributed to “domestic violence.”
The sources explained that about two months ago, the young woman fled her father’s home in Urozgan province with a man named “Hazrat Gul” and moved to Helmand. Recently, when she tried to return to Urozgan to visit her parents, the man prevented her, which led to a dispute and ultimately her suicide.
The local Taliban authorities have yet to comment on the incident.
This incident follows three other recent cases in Afghanistan, where women aged between 18 and 22 took their own lives by hanging or ingesting poison.
Since the Taliban’s return to power, suicide cases, particularly among young women and girls, have significantly increased in Afghanistan. This unprecedented rise is largely attributed to the regime’s strict restrictions, domestic violence, humanitarian conditions, and widespread poverty.
Life under Taliban rule has become extremely challenging for women and girls, who are effectively erased from public life. They are denied access to education, work, parks, and freedom of movement.
The ruling regime’s newly enacted morality law, which deems women’s voices as “awrah” (inappropriate for public hearing), prohibits them from speaking or reading in public and mandates that women cover their entire body, including their face, has further exacerbated the situation.
Despite repeated calls from the international community, including the majority of Islamic countries, rights groups, and activists, urging the Taliban to revoke the restrictions and uphold international law, the regime remains unmoved, insisting that their actions are in accordance with Islamic law and dismissing others’ appeals as interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.
