Zalaala’s Family: The Taliban Are Forcing Us to Say She Was Not Kidnapped but “Ran Away”

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The family of Zalaala Hashemi, the missing Afghan singer, says the Taliban have pressured them to say Zalaala was not kidnapped, but rather left home of her own will. This comes as more than two weeks have passed since the mysterious disappearance of this female artist in Kabul, and there is still no information about her fate.

Members of Zalaala’s family told the media that in a petition to the Taliban security institutions, they wrote that Zalaala had been kidnapped, but Taliban officers told them they must write “runaway from home” instead of “kidnapped”.

One of Zalaala Hashemi’s relatives said, “In the early days, we went to the Ministry of Interior and the 17th District of the Taliban, but to this day they have given us no information. Instead of helping to find Zalaala, they are pressuring us to accept that she left home on her own.”

According to this source, Taliban officers asked Zalaala’s family not to publicize the matter.

Earlier, Seyed Mohsen Hashemi, Zalaala’s husband, said in a video on Thursday (19 June) that Zalaala was kidnapped 15 days ago in Kabul, and so far there is no clue as to whether she is alive or dead.

However, the spokesperson for the Taliban police command in Kabul wrote on his official X account that “Ms. Zalaala left home on her own and was not kidnapped.”

It is worth noting that Zalaala Hashemi rose to fame in 2017 by participating in the music program “Afghan Star” on the private Tolo TV and was one of the few female singers to reach the final stages of the competition.

She has a four-year-old son, and her family says that since her disappearance, he has been in poor health.

More than two weeks have passed since the incident, and there is still no news about Zalaala’s fate.