An investigation by Zan times, a collective of journalists working undercover in Afghanistan, has documented 231 cases of women killed in 10 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces since the Taliban came to power in August 2021. The investigation drew on 174 instances reported by local media and 57 previously unreported cases documented directly by the journalists.
The findings indicate that women across Afghanistan are being killed at home by husbands, fathers, and brothers. Many of these cases are reportedly never entered into official records, and the system is described as guaranteeing impunity for the crime.
Of the 231 documented cases, 53 were officially declared suicides, even when there was significant evidence of foul play. Only 58 arrests were recorded across the dataset, and suspects were often released, sometimes just one day after being detained.
Liza Shams, 33, died on 1 February after her neighbours heard screaming and alerted police. Her father had received a video call showing her with a broken jaw, and she died about an hour after arriving at Rahmat hospital in Kabul. Despite extensive injuries, including multiple fractures to her cheekbones and sinus walls, the forensic report listed the likely cause of death as ingesting rat poison, noting an autopsy was not performed at the family's request. Her husband's family has argued she took her own life, stating bruising was a side-effect of poison.
The Taliban's new criminal code caps a husband's punishment for beating his wife to the point of visible injury at 15 days' imprisonment. Conversely, if a wife goes to her family's house without her husband's permission and is not returned, she and her family face three months in prison.