Volleyball player reportedly beheaded by Taliban
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Warning: This story contains graphic content which may distress some readers.</span></em></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A rising volleyball star </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10115333/Taliban-BEHEAD-womens-youth-volleyball-player-report-claims.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">has been killed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by the Taliban, with images of her head shared on social media, according to a report.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mahjabin Hakimi, a member of the Kabul Municipality Volleyball Club, was beheaded by members of the organisation earlier this month, according to claims her coach made in an interview with </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.independentpersian.com/node/185776/%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86/%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86-%DB%8C%DA%A9-%D8%B9%D8%B6%D9%88-%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%85-%D9%85%D9%84%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%BA%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84-%D8%B3%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AF%D9%86%D8%AF" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Persian Independent</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Several conflicting claims have been circulating on social media regarding her death, with reports claiming Mahjabin was killed a week before <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/travel-trouble/kabul-has-fallen-what-s-happening-in-afghanistan" target="_blank">the Taliban seized Kabul</a>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A death certificate purportedly showed her date of death as mid-August.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other claims said she had committed suicide.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A photo purportedly of her body showed she had an injury to her neck, but it is unclear whether it was caused by a blade or a ligature.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, the Payk Investigative Journalism Centre, based in Afghanistan, said its sources confirmed Mahjabin “was beheaded by the Taliban in Kabul”.</span></p>
<p><img style="width: 500px; height:281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845032/volleyball1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/bf96b466d9a04384bbecf2adad8e6031" /></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Twitter</span></em></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mahjabin’s coach said her death was only being reported now because the Taliban had threatened her family to remain silent about what happened to her.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After the image emerged online, the coach decided that she needed to speak out.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“All the players of the volleyball team and the rest of the women athletes are in a bad situation and in despair and fear,” she said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Everyone has been forced to flee and live in unknown places.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The coach said only two members of the Kabul team managed to flee the country before the Taliban seized power at the end of August, with the rest now in hiding.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Italian Volleyball Federation announced on Friday that all of its leagues would observe a minute of silence for Mahjabin prior to their games on the weekend.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It seems impossible that in 2021 someone will be killed just because they play volleyball or, even worse, because they want to chase their dreams,” the federation said in a </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.federvolley.it/news/il-mondo-del-volley-lutto-decapitata-una-giovane-pallavolista-afgana" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">statement</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Instead it is a horrendous reality. The whole great volleyball community is in mourning today.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Mahjabin, wherever you are, we like to think of you with a ball in your hand, finally free to play volleyball.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The devastating news comes as athletes have continued to be evacuated from the country.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">FIFA, the governing body of football, negotiated the evacuation of 57 soccer and basketball players on Thursday, with most being women and children.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The organisation also said it worked with the Qatari government to evacuate almost 100 football players and their families, and assisted cycling body UCI with the evacuation of 165 refugees via Albania.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">50 female Afghan athletes and their dependents have been evacuated by Australia after lobbying from prominent sporting figures, while several of Afghanistan’s national female youth soccer players were granted asylum in Portugal.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite making vague promises that their attitudes towards women had changed, the Taliban banned girls from returning to secondary school.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Zahra Fayazi, a member of the senior volleyball team who fled to the UK, previously told the </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/volleyball/58612964" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">BBC</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that female players were threatened and destroyed their sporting equipment out of fear.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Many of our players who are from provinces were threatened many times by their relatives who are Taliban and Taliban followers,” she said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They even burned their sports equipment to save themselves and their families. They didn’t want them to keep anything related to sport. They are scared.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The Taliban asked our players’ families to not allow their girls to do sport, otherwise they will be faced with unexpected violence.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Taliban also replaced the government’s women ministry with an all-male “vice and virtue” department.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">No women have been included in the new government</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Twitter</span></em></p>
