A 32-year-old Afghan woman has died in western Afghanistan’s Ghor province after suffering severe injuries in an alleged torture attack by her husband, with relatives saying she was beaten and burned with heated metal rods.
The woman, identified by local sources as Nooria, was from Taywara district. Relatives said the attack took place in the presence of her four young children, leaving her with extensive burns, bruises and other injuries.
Sources said the woman was subjected to prolonged physical abuse, including torture with heated metal rods, before eventually succumbing to her injuries.
Images reported to have been obtained from the woman’s family showed severe wounds and burn marks across several parts of her body. According to relatives, the woman’s husband admitted responsibility the following day and surrendered to Taliban authorities. Details about the circumstances that led to the assault and the action taken against him were not immediately available.
The death comes amid mounting international scrutiny of the treatment of Afghan women under Taliban rule.
The International Criminal Court on October 5 unsealed arrest warrants for four senior Taliban figures, including Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, over alleged responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds. The warrants concern women, girls and others deemed non-conforming with Taliban gender policies and refer to alleged conduct including murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and enforced disappearance.
The timing also follows renewed international calls for the Taliban to lift restrictions on Afghan women and girls. UN humanitarian officials have repeatedly pressed the Taliban to allow Afghan women to work, including in humanitarian operations, while the UN has continued to document sweeping restrictions on women’s participation in public life, education and employment.
The case therefore adds another disturbing account of violence against an Afghan woman to an already grave picture of women’s rights and protection under Taliban rule, even as questions remain over how authorities will respond to the alleged perpetrator.
