2 yıl önce

Man arrested for allegedly trafficking scores of Afghan women

The perpetrator targeted poor women desperate to improve their circumstances after which he would move them to a different province where they were sold into servitude, police said.

Reuters

Rising poverty in Afghanistan has resulted in increased crimes such as kidnappings and robberies in the big cities.

The Taliban have arrested a man for allegedly selling dozens of women in northern Afghanistan after duping them into believing they would be marrying into money.

The man was arrested in northern Jawzjan province late on Monday, Taliban provincial police chief Damullah Seraj said.

"We are still in our initial stages of the investigation. We hope to find out more about this case later," he added.

A district police chief in Jawzjan, Mohammad Sardar Mubariz, said the man would target poor women desperate to improve their circumstances.

After saying he would find them a wealthy husband, he would move them to a different province where they were instead sold into servitude.

He has allegedly trafficked around 130 women.

Rising poverty

Since their return to power about three months ago, the Taliban have been trying to contain a spate of crimes such as robberies and kidnappings in the big cities.

On Tuesday, the Taliban interior ministry said 60 people, including members of the passport department, were arrested for forging documents to obtain passports.

The ministry said it was temporarily closing the passport office in Kabul for maintenance.

Even as crime, nepotism and corruption are not new in Afghanistan, rising poverty is undermining the Taliban government's claim to legitimacy.