KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – A man in Faryab’s Shirin Tagab district has set his wife on fire, local sources report.
The incident took place on Thursday, March 27, in the village of Baloch. Sources say the husband tied his wife’s hands and feet, locked her in a room, and then set her on fire.
Her body was reduced to ashes.
The motive remains unclear. The Taliban have arrested the perpetrator but have not officially commented on the killing.
Since the Taliban’s return to power, gender-based violence has surged across Afghanistan.
Between January 2022 and June 2024, Afghan Witness documented 700 incidents of violence against 840 women and girls. Cases included femicide, physical abuse, sexual assault, torture, enforced disappearances, and other forms of gender-based violence.
Experts, activists, and UN representatives describe the Taliban’s restrictive gender policies, which have virtually erased women from public life, as a form of gender apartheid.
