Afghanistan: Bride prohibited from attending her own wedding

Image: Jihad Watch

For most weddings around the world, it’s typically expected that the couple getting married would be present at the venue.

However, this is not the case for high-ranking Taliban members.

Unsurprisingly, the regressive views held by members of the militant group extend to their views on marriage and wedding ceremonies. This was made evident when a Western ‘explorer’ was granted rare access to one such event.

The wedding, held at the Uranus Wedding Palace in northern Kabul, hosted thousands of attendees but was entirely segregated by gender.

Video footage captured by Miles Routledge showed a large white hall, decorated with gold accents, completely filled with men sitting at dozens of tables. He explained to MailOnline that all the women were in a “separate, identically sized venue next door,” with roughly the same number of attendees.

The YouTuber was also invited to the nikah, an essential part of Islamic weddings where a formal marriage contract is signed by both the groom and bride.

Normally, both the bride and groom are present to sign the contract, but the Taliban took a different approach in this case.

True to the Taliban’s regressive stance on women’s rights, which has been increasingly harsh over the years, the bride was absent during the nikah. Instead, male family members from both sides of the couple’s families gathered in a closed-off room to complete the formalities on their behalf.

During the celebration, the groom was presented with money as a gift, and guests had the option to get henna tattoos on their hands.

As part of the event, delicate white confetti was thrown over the groom as he sat alone at the head of the wedding.

(This Article was originally published by Jihad Watch)