Ex Taliban spokesperson Saeed Khosty accused of raping, torturing minor girl

A minor girl in Afghanistan, Elaha Dilwaziri, a student of Kabul University, has claimed that Qari Saeed Khosty, the former spokesperson of Taliban's Interior Ministry forcibly married, tortured and raped her. Dilwaziri has made the claims in a leaked video that has gone viral on Twitter.

Qari Saeed Khosty, meanwhile, has rejected the claim of rape and cited her 'un-Islamic beliefs' as the reason behind divorcing her. While in the video the girl showed injury marks on her body, Khosty said that he 'didn't hit her'.

What happened: The story came to light on August 30, when a video of Elaha Dilwaziri crying was posted on the Twitter handle of the news agency Aamna News English. In the video, Dilwaziri was seen crying while narrating her ordeal. She accused Khosty of raping and torturing her. 

After this video, another video of the girl went viral, where Khosty is seen barging into the girl's house with two of his aides.

Khosty's claims: After the videos went viral, Qari Saeed Khosty issued a statement saying that he married the girl at 'her request' and that he had divorced her after finding that she had a 'problem of faith'. He even accused the girl of committing blasphemy by insulting the Quran. 

Khosty wrote on Twitter, "6 months ago, I married a girl named Elaha at her request, after that I saw that she has a problem of faith. I tried to correct her beliefs through advice and discussion, but, it didn't work, until she clearly insulted the Holy Quran which is also proven. (sic)"

Khosty also said that he didn't hit the girl, and that he has 'legally separated from his wife by giving her divorce'.

After the videos surfaced on Twitter, several people have been slamming both Khosty and the Taliban. Taliban-affiliated accounts on Twitter, meanwhile, have been busy victim-shaming Dilwaziri.

The Taliban has officially not responded to the allegations as of now.

Context: Ever since the US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, women have had a difficult time merely existing in the Taliban-ruled country. Many of the advances that the women of Afghanistan made in the 20 years of no-Taliban rule in between, have totally been wiped out once the Taliban got back in power. As such, the news of the former Interior Ministry Spokesperson of the Taliban having married a minor girl forcibly, torturing her, and raping her has shaken people, even as the Taliban themselves are yet to react to the allegations.