New Delhi : A popular woman travel vlogger from Kerala, who has been travelling across Afghanistan and posting videos from the country, on Monday claimed that she was “arrested” by the “Mujahideen” in Bamyan and sought help in contacting the Indian embassy. ‘Backpacker Arunima’ shared what she described as a translation of an official communication, according to which she had been arrested by the mujahideen in Afghanistan.
Sharing the communication, seeking help to contact the Indian embassy, Arunina wrote, “I am in trouble in Afghanistan. I am in Bamyan”. The post did not provide details about the circumstances of her alleged arrest or identify those who had detained her. Indian officials in Kabul and New Delhi also did not provide any update on the alleged arrest. Arunima said she had been released by the Mujahideen and explained what she said had happened between her SOS message and her release.
“The ‘crime’ I had committed was travelling alone as a woman in a country where women are not allowed to travel alone. A permit is required for every province. I hadn’t obtained those permits because they would not issue them to a woman travelling alone,” she explained. She said she became extremely frightened after being told that she had violated the law and contacted a man who had earlier helped her reach Bamyan. He then spoke to the authorities on her behalf, she said.
The vlogger said she faced detentions and restrictions in Afghanistan because she was a woman, while her male friends had been able to travel through the Taliban-ruled country without similar difficulties. “I had to go through all of this simply because I am a woman. Many of my male friends have travelled through this country. None of them had any problems. Some of my female friends have travelled here too, but they all travelled either with a guide or alongside a man,” she continued.
“I held on to that man’s hands and feet and begged him, and that’s why they didn’t arrest me. For a few hours, I was literally going through hell. I was so tense and didn’t know what to do. I felt like I was about to die. I felt that something was going to happen to me,” she added. Arunima, who has been travelling alone across the world, entered Afghanistan several weeks ago and has regularly posted updates from her journey.
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