Media outlets, citing local sources in Herat, have reported that an 18-year-old Sunni woman died by suicide after the Taliban pressured her family into ending her marriage to a young Shia man.

According to the sources, the Taliban arrested the girl’s father and made his release conditional on the annulment of his daughter’s marriage. The family was reportedly forced to accept the demand in order to secure his release.

According to the reports, Zahra suffered severe psychological distress after the marriage was annulled under pressure and eventually took her own life.

The incident comes amid recent reports of underage marriages and marriages allegedly involving financial transactions in Afghanistan.

Local sources recently reported that a 17-year-old girl in Kandahar was married to a Chinese national in exchange for one million Afghanis. However, independent and comprehensive details about that case remain unavailable.

Critics of the Taliban’s policies say the group’s interference in citizens’ private and family affairs, particularly in matters related to marriage, has raised concerns about women’s right to choose their spouses and their broader rights.

If the details of Zahra’s case are independently confirmed, the reported Taliban intervention to annul her marriage because of the couple’s different religious affiliations would raise serious questions about freedom of choice in marriage and equal treatment of followers of different Islamic denominations in Afghanistan.