By Ziba Balkhi

When Marhaba went to court to seek a divorce she was hoping for a quick end to years of abuse from her violent husband; instead the judge sent her to prison.  

The 26-year-old mother has spent four months in a filthy, overcrowded jail in northern Afghanistan with her baby and three-year-old son, her lawyer said. All three are in poor health, but requests for her release have gone unanswered. 

Since seizing power five years ago, the Taliban have made it increasingly hard for women to divorce. 

Women seeking to end abusive marriages say judges often blame them for their situation and tell them to return to their husbands and put up with the violence. Sometimes they punish women for “disobedience” to their husbands. 

Marhaba’s sister told Rukhshana Media that her 39-year-old husband was a drug addict who could not support his family and was having an affair. She said Marhaba had suffered four years of physical and verbal abuse. 

But Marhaba’s lawyer said the judge rejected her divorce request, telling her she was a “shameless woman” to come to court because of “one or two punches and kicks”.  

He also dismissed complaints of the husband’s infidelity, saying every man had the right to four wives. 

When Marhaba told the judge she could no longer bear the violence and would kill herself if he did not grant her a divorce, he sent her to prison to “to come to her senses”, the lawyer said. Suicide is considered a sin in Islam.  

It is unclear how long Marhaba will remain in jail as the judge did not give a specific sentence. 

The Taliban have previously imprisoned other women for seeking divorce or refusing forced marriages. 

A relative who accompanied Marhaba to court said the judge had spoken very angrily to her. 

“He didn’t even consider how much this poor woman had suffered,” added the relative who asked not to be named. 

“When she said ‘My husband beats me’, the judge sided with her husband and said, ‘Good that he does’.” 

Rukhshana media was unable to speak to the Taliban court or Marhaba’s husband.  

After regaining power in 2021, the Taliban abolished laws to protect women and dismantled specialist courts that had been set up to handle family disputes and divorces. 

A criminal code introduced this year allows men to beat their wives as long as it does not cause serious injury, while a law on spousal separation states that a judge cannot grant a woman a divorce purely because her husband is cruel. 

Marhaba’s sister said her husband had beaten her so badly earlier this year that she was left bleeding from her nose and mouth, and that he would also hit their son. 

“He would beat my sister in front of her children,” she added. “The poor children would scream and cry out of fear. He would become angry and beat his three-year-old son as well.” 

Her sister said Marhaba had become very pale and thin in prison and the children were constantly sick. 

Marhaba’s lawyer said the jail was a very unsuitable place for children and there was no longer separate accommodation for nursing mothers as there used to be. 

“All kinds of violence takes place inside the prison in front of the children,” he added. “There is a great deal of filth and rubbish … and the stench has become overwhelming.”   

* Marhaba is a pseudonym. We have omitted some details to further protect her identity.