Published on: 02/09/2022 – 15:15 In a 19-minute video published by Afghan media on August 30, a former medical student named Elaha claims, with supporting footage, that she was beaten, raped and tortured by Saeed Khosty, a former Taliban official, for the past six months. She also claims that Saeed Khosty threatened her family and forced her to marry him. This video, the authenticity of which was confirmed to France 24 Observers by two people who had been in contact with the young woman, highlights the abuse of power and violence against women in an Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban. “Now that this video is published, it is possible that no one will see me again, I risk dying,” says Elaha in the video, which she recorded in several times, during her captivity. She forwarded these recordings, photos and videos showing her with Saeed Khosty to women’s rights activists and journalists who posted them online. Those same activists say she is now safe in an undisclosed location. . © . On August 31, Saeed Khosty, a former spokesperson for the Taliban’s interior ministry, acknowledged on Twitter that he had indeed married Elaha. He said they got married at her request, after she approached him. He, however, denied beating her. “She had some issues regarding her beliefs and faith. I tried to straighten her out by talking and counseling her, but it didn’t work,” he wrote. He said he divorced Elaha and accused her of committing blasphemy, an offense punishable by execution in Taliban Afghanistan. He made no reference to Elaha’s video or rape accusations in his response. not the case and that she was still in a safe place. Taliban officials told local Afghan media that a tweet purporting to announce her arrest was in fact inaccurate. “I’d rather die once than thousands of times” in the video the young woman recorded while she was still in captivity, she describes her situation in Dari, one of Afghanistan’s two main languages. In the video, she shows the scars and injuries she says she received from repeated beatings by Saeed Khosty (at 1:31 p.m.). She begins the video by giving her name and that of her executioner. My name is Elaha. I was a medical student at the University of Kabul and my father was a general in the Afghan army… Saeed Khosty, spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, “married” me by force in an office of the intelligence services during the month of Dalv [NDLR : le mois persan qui va du 20 janvier au 18 février]. … He forced me to “marry” him in the intelligence office. She says in the video that Saeed Khosty saw her for the first time after his arrest in Kabul in February. I was stopped at a Taliban checkpoint because I had pictures of Afghan army men on my phone…. The Taliban detained me in the Sector 11 police office. Saeed Khosty was there and filming videos of those arrested. He saw me. He accused me of taking part in anti-Taliban demonstrations, but that was a lie. Then, he asked me for my address… He said to me: “Do you think that you are a doctor, that you are someone? You are selfish. In the end, you are only a woman, and women are inferior to men.” Then they took me to another place, with a sign saying “Command Section 08, Office 104″….He beat and raped me and recorded videos of his actions….Then he forced me to record a video saying that I would marry him freely…But I was a prisoner. The next day, people came and gave me a piece of paper, saying “This is your confession, sign it”… They said to me: “You have insulted the Islamic State [le gouvernement Taliban]. Insulting the Islamic State is like insulting Allah and we could stone you. the intelligence office and they forced me to marry him. They forced me to kiss his feet. In the same office, they forced me to say in a video that I married him freely. videos show a Taliban leader at his family’s homeWomen’s rights activists say Elaha was released from the detention center and allowed to return to her family home.Videos apparently filmed by her family show that Saeed Khosty carried out at least two home visits. In the video pleading released August 30, Elaha said, “He threatened me and my family. He wanted to force my sister to marry an elderly member of the Taliban. My family had to escape from Afghanistan to save my sister.” . © . In this video posted on Afghan social media on August 30, 2022, Elaha can be heard telling Saeed Khosty: “Stop talking! Get out of this house!” Saeed Khosty asks, “Why did you bring a shovel? They are my soldiers.” Elaha replies, “Are you threatening me with your soldiers? Stop talking, get out of this house!” . © . In this video, also posted on Afghan social media on August 30, 2022, Elaha is seen trying to push former Taliban leader Saeed Khosty out of the family home with a shovel Elaha told women’s rights activists the incident happened during the Persian month of Hut [du 19 février au 20 mars], and that Saeed Khosty had arrived with Taliban soldiers and had tried to force his way into the house.”Every night he beats me”France 24 verified Elaha’s story with two sources: Mukhtar Wafaei, a Afghan journalist who spoke directly with her on August 30, and Huda Khamoush, a well-known Afghan women’s rights activist. They said that at some point she was taken to live with Khosty. The young woman described her living conditions in her video message. I only had a basic phone and could not contact anyone but him. He forced the university to expel me…I tried to escape several times, but without success…Every night he beats me. Sometimes he wakes up and wants to strangle me… He beats me every day, he’s wild. He also took many nude videos of me and threatened to post them if I ran away again… At one point, her injuries were so bad that she was taken to the hospital. A medical worker sent a short video of her to Khamoush, who posted it on Twitter saying that Saeed Khosty had beaten the young woman and forced her to marry him. “I published the video, but unfortunately it didn’t get much attention at the time,” she told France 24 Observers. های اخیر قاری سعید خوستی بزور و اجبار وی را به نکاح خویش در آورده بود.
امروز اورا چنان لت کوب کرده که در شفا خانه لیسه مریم بخش عاجل انتقال داده شده نوت: تصاویر را یکی از شاهدان قضیه برایمان فرستاده است pic.twitter.com/6VQ0eEPt0s— Hoda khamosh _هداخموش (@HodaKhamosh) February 27, 2022 Cette vidéo publiée on Twitter on February 27, 2022 shows Elaha in the emergency room of a hospital. She told activists that she had been repeatedly beaten by former Taliban leader Saeed Khosty. {{ scope.counterText }} {{ scope.legend }} © {{ scope.credits }} {{ scope.counterText }} i {{ scope.legend }}© {{ scope.credits }} “I don’t know what will happen when I post this video” Elaha said he recorded his video message from an apartment near the Foreign Ministry in Kabul. “She had no internet or phone to reach the outside world, but finally, a few days ago, she was able to get her hands on a phone connected to the internet,” Khamoush told France 24. video and sent it to be published”. I don’t know what will happen when I publish this video but I am begging someone to help me, to save my life. I’m pregnant…There’s an information desk next to our house. There are always patrols, and no one can come to this street. Please help me…Maybe they will kill me, but I’d rather die once than thousands of times… No one dares to help me, they say the Taliban are in power and they are afraid that they might do the same to their daughters too. They say they are in power, that you must endure.