- An Afghan woman said a Taliban gunman struck her mom across the face after the group's takeover, leaving a bruise.
- The two women were approached by the militants because they were outside without a male escort.
- Under the Taliban, women across Afghanistan are severely oppressed and deprived of opportunity.
An Afghan woman said a Taliban gunman once struck her mom across the face and left a bruise because she was outside without a male escort.
A woman identified as Pahlawan said was walking with her mother in Kabul in November 2021 when a pickup truck pulled up next to them, the Washington Post reported.
Pahlawan told the Post through voice notes and phone calls that they were walking without a male escort, a practice discouraged by the militant group.
The gunman approached the duo and asked where they were going. Pahlawan told the gunman that her mom needed to take frequent walks to alleviate her high blood pressure, the Post reported. Then he told Pahlawan to follow him, the report said.
When one of the militants drew closer to Pahlawan, her mother raised a water bottle to try and stop him, the report said. The militant then struck her in the face, leaving a purple bruise.
"This should be the last time you roam around without a [male escort]," a fighter told Pahlawan after her mother begged the men to forgive the two women, she recounted to the Post. "Get lost."
The Washington Post investigation — which has spanned months — details the lives of four women living under the Taliban's second rule through phone calls and WhatsApp messages.
The Taliban reclaimed control of Afghanistan following President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw US troops from the region. After its takeover, the Taliban renamed the country as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, reverting back to the same name used during the last time the regime took power, in 1996.
Under the Taliban's rule at that time, women were severely oppressed, facing restrictions like being barred from working or attending schools.
This time around, however, the militant group had promised to respect women's rights "within Islamic law." But human rights activists, Afghan women, and the White House were skeptical of the Taliban's vow.
Despite the promise that the Taliban will impose fewer restrictions on women compared to two decades ago, reports from the country indicate women are facing harsh consequences under their control.
Soon after their seizure of Afghanistan's government, for example, Taliban fighters reportedly set an Afghan woman on fire for feeding them "bad cooking," Insider's Joshua Zitser reported. Taliban fighters also instructed a reporter from CNN to step aside while reporting on camera because she's a woman.
One woman who was a judge in Afghanistan told Reuters in September after the Taliban's takeover that she was being hunted down by the same men she had once put in prison.