KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources in Faryab have reported the tragic killing of a 45-year-old woman by her son in the provincial capital.
The incident occurred on Saturday, December 21, in the ninth district of Maimana city. According to sources, the suspect, identified as Qiyamuddin, fatally stabbed his mother during a family dispute.
The family originally hailed from the Pashtun Kot district but had been residing in the Maimana airport area.
Local sources confirmed that the accused has been arrested by the Taliban, although officials in Faryab have yet to officially comment regarding the incident.
Just two days earlier, a separate case in Qaisar district of Faryab involved a man killing his sister-in-law and brother-in-law, further highlighting the troubling rise in domestic violence in the region.
This recent incident is part of a broader pattern of gender-based violence that has worsened since the Taliban’s return to power over three years ago.
Between January 2022 and June 2024, Afghan Witness, a project by the Center for Information Resilience, documented 700 claims of violence against 840 women and girls in Afghanistan. These cases included femicide, abuse, sexual assault, torture, enforced disappearances, and other forms of gender-based violence.
Since reclaiming power, the Taliban have systematically imposed oppressive measures targeting women and girls. Women are barred from working in the public sector or NGOs, pursuing secondary and higher education, traveling long distances without male chaperones, and accessing parks, public baths, and gyms.
UN experts, legal scholars, and activists describe the Taliban’s policies as a form of gender apartheid, deliberately designed to subjugate women.
A 2023 UN Women report revealed the devastating psychological toll of these restrictions on Afghan women and girls. Nearly 70% reported experiencing anxiety, isolation, and depression. Psychological issues such as insomnia, hopelessness, fear, aggression, and suicidal thoughts have become increasingly prevalent among women across the country.
