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Afghan women’s national team volleyball player beheaded by Taliban

Despite making a statement that the Taliban has banned public execution until a higher court’s order, in a shocking turn of events, it was learnt that the Taliban millitants allegedly beheaded an athlete of the Afghan junior women’s national volleyball team.

According to a report by Independent Persian, the Taliban slaughtered Mahjubin Hakimi, a member of the Afghan women’s national volleyball team who played in the youth age group in Kabul. One of the coaches of the Afghan women’s national volleyball team confirmed that the athlete had been killed but said that no one other than the athlete’s family knew the exact time and manner of the incident.

Mahjabin played for the Kabul Municipality Volleyball Club before the collapse of the previous Afghan government and was one of the club’s most successful players. A few days ago, pictures of Hakimi’s severed head circulated on social media which was the prime evidence of her killing.

Afghan women's national team volleyball player beheaded by Taliban

The coach further said that only two of the team’s players was able to escape from the country before the Taliban ushered control in August. Mahjabin Hakimi was among the many other unfortunate women sportspersons who were left behind.

Ever since the takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban have tried to identify and hunt down women athletes; the militants have been even more keenly on the lookout for members of the Afghan women’s volleyball team, who competed in foreign and domestic competitions and appeared in media programs in the past.

Afghan women's national team volleyball player beheaded by Taliban

The Afghan national women’s volleyball team was established in 1978 and has long been a beacon of hope and empowerment for young girls in the country. However, Mahjabin’s death has fuelled fears of being targeted by the Taliban.

The news comes a week after the FIFA and the Qatar government successfully evacuated as many as 100 women footballers, including members of the national football team, and their family members from Afghanistan. Since the takeover, all women’s activities in sports, political and social circles have ceased.

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