Taliban morality police allegedly arrested a seventeen-year-old Afghan cancer patient last month in Herat province for 'improper hijab' - the offence? Wearing subtle eye makeup.
According to a report, she was arrested despite being covered in a traditional prayer veil (chadar namaz). The teenager was identified by the pseudonym Shakiba. Her arrest exposed strict rules under the regime's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
Life in Hardship
Shakiba's short life has been defined by tragic hardship. Her drug-addicted father abandoned the family when she was only thirteen. The teen's mother was left with no choice but to arrange Shakiba's marriage to an older man living in Iran. By sixteen, Shakiba had given birth to her first child. She had developed severe neck pain, leading to a devastating cancer diagnosis. When her husband's family refused to pay for her medical treatment, they discarded her and sent her back to Afghanistan.
Shakiba's mother begged relatives and neighbours for money to send the teenager to Pakistan for chemotherapy. Knowing her daughter was fighting for her life, her mother allowed her the small comfort of wearing light eye makeup. For the desperate mother, it was a tiny mercy intended to bring a sense of joy and dignity to Shakiba's final days.
Extortion and Severe Medical Risk
While out shopping in Herat, officers from the morality police seized the teenager during a broader regional crackdown. Shakiba's frantic mother rushed to the station with official medical reports proving her daughter was gravely ill. Officers initially dismissed her pleas.
Holding a terminally ill patient in a jail cell for forty-eight hours placed her fragile health and ongoing medical treatment in severe jeopardy.
Human rights advocates view the incident not as religious enforcement, but as a cruel act of state extortion against the country's poorest citizens. The Taliban refused to release Shakiba until her family paid a steep fine of 13,000 Afghanis. For the teen's mother, it was an exorbitant amount. Per the report, she was forced to beg for money once again to secure her daughter's release.
The Aftermath of Being Detained
Shakiba was finally released after forty-eight agonizing hours in custody. She returned home physically exhausted and deeply traumatised.
Following her detention, the teenager has become almost completely silent and refused to discuss what happened to her.
Shakiba's mother fears that she may have suffered physical torture, sexual assault, or severe threats while in custody. The teenager demands to return to Iran to live with the husband who abandoned her, despite her mother's efforts to reason with her.
Stricter New Regulations
The arrest comes amid an escalating crackdown against women across Herat province. In June, provincial authorities announced strict new regulations ordering women to wear full prayer veils alongside face masks. They were also forbidden to wear perfume and cosmetics.
One mosque announcement even claimed that wearing perfume was like committing adultery. Morality officers have established checkpoints across the region to detain women accused of dress code violations. Herat Governor Noor Ahmad Islamjar later acknowledged the mass detentions. He claimed that the arrested women suffered from psychological problems.
Writing on legal news platform, an anonymous Afghan legal scholar criticised international leaders for continuing conversations with the Taliban despite these human rights abuses. The author recalled unarmed village women in Herat who once courageously protected their local land.
The author urged Afghan women to adopt smart civil disobedience to reclaim their lost freedoms. The scholar warned that silent obedience will never restore lost rights and will only strengthen oppressive Taliban regimes.
