This Article is From Jan 17, 2023

Watch: Mannequins In Kabul, Hooded And Masked Under Taliban Rule

Several images from shops in Afghanistan have surfaced on social media showing the bizarre sight of hooded mannequins.

The Taliban authorities initially wanted the mannequins to be beheaded

Kabul:

Mannequins at women's dress shops in Kabul, Afghanistan, which is currently under Taliban rule, were seen with their heads wrapped using plastic bags and faces covered with aluminium foil. The Taliban authorities initially wanted the mannequins to be beheaded.

Several images from shops in Afghanistan have surfaced on social media showing the bizarre sight of hooded mannequins.

In a picture shared on Twitter, mannequins are seen kept on display inside shops with their heads completely wrapped in aluminium foil.

Another photo showed black plastic bags covering the faces of the women figures.

Some shopkeepers have also used clothes to hide the faces and comply with the orders of the Taliban.

“Not to be outdone by their own absurdity, the Taliban first demanded that all female mannequins in Afghanistan be beheaded. But now, in a gracious show of understanding and empathy, says to just cover them in plastic bags as if they're being suffocated,” a user wrote while sharing the pictures of the mannequins.

Another person said, “Taliban initially declared all female mannequins should be beheaded but then accepted having bags over their heads in shop windows. No words come to me about this travesty, except curiosity that I live in a world with such hatred of women is celebrated”.

A shop owner named Aziz told the news agency Associated Press that agents of the Ministry of Vice and Virtue regularly visit the shops and malls to ensure that the mannequins are either beheaded or covered. Opposing the rules, he said, “Everyone knows mannequins aren't idols, and no one's going to worship them. In all Muslim countries, mannequins are used to display clothes.”

Around this time last year, the Taliban had ordered shop owners in western Afghanistan to behead the mannequins saying that human figures violate Islamic law. A video had gone viral where men were seen beheading the mannequins. 

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