KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – A woman has been strangled to death by her husband in Samangan province, central Afghanistan, amid a recent surge in domestic violence across the country.
The incident took place on Sunday night, 1 June, in Khulm district, according to local sources. The 47-year-old husband reportedly used a cloth to kill his wife at home.
Hashmatullah Rahmani, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s police in Samangan, confirmed the killing and said the man has been arrested. He cited family problems as the motive.
Afghanistan has long struggled with high rates of violence against women. Even before the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, nearly 90% of Afghan women had experienced some form of intimate partner violence.
Afghan Witness, a project monitoring human rights in the country, has documented at least 700 incidents of violence against women and girls between January 2022 and June 2024. These include killings, torture, sexual violence, and enforced disappearances.
The Taliban has also shut down institutions meant to protect women, including the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and courts for handling gender-based violence cases.
UN officials and rights experts have described the Taliban’s actions as a form of “gender apartheid” and warn that the ongoing repression of women will have lasting consequences for Afghan society.
