Indian Aronimai, a travel blogger who claimed to have been detained by unknown men while traveling in Afghanistan, is now safe and was released after several hours of detention.
Details of the Incident in Bamiyan
Aronimai arrived in Bamiyan at 7 PM and had come to the city after getting on a truck. As night fell, local residents and officials approached her and reminded her that according to local laws, women are not allowed to travel alone at night. After checking her passport and visa, officials asked her to provide her travel permit.
Aronimai explained that she had previously tried to obtain a permit in Jalalabad, but officials refused to issue it due to her travel without a male companion (mahram) or an official guide. To pass through earlier checkpoints between Kabul and Bamiyan, she claimed she was traveling with a German companion who would meet her at another location.
Negotiations and Release
In a Facebook post, Aronimai wrote: "That night I got on a truck and came to a place called Bamiyan. When I arrived here, it was 7 PM and getting dark. As soon as I got out of the vehicle, people here approached me because according to the laws here, a woman usually cannot be out alone at night."
Aronimai stated that two men asked her questions through a translation app and checked her documents while she was charging her mobile phone at her accommodation. After realizing that she was traveling alone in Afghanistan, they informed her that she was violating the law and could be arrested soon.
While she was extremely anxious, she contacted a local person who had helped her that night. This person negotiated her situation, and eventually, officials agreed that she could travel towards the border without purchasing a permit.
Aronimai continued: "Until he arrived, my heart was racing. I was completely frozen and didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t saying anything; they just kept repeating that I was violating the rules. After a while, that man arrived and we explained everything to them. Fortunately, he could speak English, and I really pleaded with him to pay attention to my situation."
She concluded by noting: "My only crime was traveling alone as a woman in a country where women are not allowed to travel alone."
