Taliban Orders Shop Owners To Remove Heads Of Mannequins

The Taliban has ordered shop owners in Afghanistan to remove the heads of mannequins, insisting it violates Islamic law.

The AFP news agency reported on Wednesday, that a video clip showing men cutting the plastic heads off female dummies went viral on social media.

Aziz Rahman, the head of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in the city of Herat, was quoted by AFP to have said;

“We have ordered the shopkeepers to cut the heads off mannequins as this is against the Islamic Sharia law.

“If they just cover the head or hide the entire mannequin, the angel of Allah will not enter their shop or house and bless them."

Since the return of theTaliban to power in August last year, they have increasingly imposed their interpretation of the Islamic law, severely reducing freedoms, particularly on women and girls.

Since seizing power, they have banned girls from secondary schools while women have largely been prevented from working in the public sector or taken up government positions.

Also last week, authorities in Kabul said women who plan to travel long distances should not be offered freedom unless accompanied by a close male relative.

The Taliban has also increased raids on liquor stores, arrests of drug addicts and ban on music.