KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – A 20-year-old woman in Afghanistan’s central Ghor province has died after setting herself on fire to escape a forced marriage to the brother of a Taliban member, according to local sources.
The victim, identified as Abida, ended her life on Sunday in Taywara district. Local sources said she used petrol and wood to burn herself. A video obtained by KabulNow shows people attempting to extinguish the fire, but by the time they reached her, her body was fully burned.
Sources say Haji Mohammad Rahmani, a Taliban member, had been pressuring Abida’s family to marry her off to his brother, Mohammad Azim. As the family resisted the marriage, Rahmani reportedly detained Abida’s father and brothers on Sunday, while Azim stormed her home and tried to take her by force.
Rahmani claimed Abida had been engaged to his brother since she was two years old—an allegation her family firmly denies. He later filed a complaint in the Taliban district court, which initially ruled in his favor. That decision, however, was overturned by the Taliban’s appellate court in Kandahar, according to the sources.
Taliban authorities in Ghor have not commented on the incident. The Taliban spokesperson for the province has not responded to requests for comment.
The tragedy highlights the increasing number of suicides among women and girls in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, many linked to forced marriages. Rights groups say Taliban members are often involved in such coercion.
An earlier report by the Afghanistan Human Rights Center (AHRC) found that 51% of forced and underage marriages were linked to Taliban fighters and local commanders. The report noted that some women opted to marry ordinary men to avoid being compelled to wed Taliban members.
