Afghan Woman Journalist Bano Murdered With No Reported Justice

January 24, 2026 – Afghanistan – 

In mid-July 2025, Bano, a journalist working in Maimana, northern Afghanistan, was killed inside her own home by her husband, in a murder that has gone largely unreported and unresolved, according to a narrative published by Zan Times, an independent Afghan women’s newsroom focused on documenting rights abuses. The account of her death and the lack of accountability highlight both gender-based violence and the collapse of legal protections for women and media workers under Taliban rule.

According to Zan Times, Bano was slain at around 12:32 a.m. on July 13, 2025, in her city apartment. Her mother, Khadija, described the scene as one of intense violence — Bano’s hands were reportedly bound, her clothing torn, and the room in disarray — suggesting a serious struggle before the killing. A neighbour heard loud sounds consistent with a confrontation but did not intervene due to fear for their own safety, while Bano’s husband allegedly left the scene with blood-stained hands.

Bano had been married off at the age of 13 due to family poverty, and her career as a journalist — an uncommon path for Afghan women — appears to have created tensions within the household. Her mother and neighbours noted that her husband had a history of violent behaviour, substance abuse, and alleged involvement in criminal activity, further complicating the circumstances leading up to the murder.

Despite the brutality of the crime and its occurrence in a central urban area with security forces and cameras present, no arrests have been made, and authorities have taken no meaningful investigative action, Zan Times reports. Khadija said she repeatedly approached local police stations and courts seeking justice. Still, officials offered no substantive leads and placed the burden on the grieving mother to uncover the perpetrator, effectively abdicating responsibility for prosecuting the murder.

The case illustrates the broader failure of Afghanistan’s justice system under Taliban control, where legal institutions lack independence, women are largely excluded from legal recourse, and crimes against female journalists and other women frequently go unaddressed. Zan Times editors note that violence against women, including murders, has risen sharply since the Taliban’s return to power, with victims and families often left without support or accountability. The silence around Bano’s death has also had a chilling effect on other women journalists in Maimana; several said they no longer feel safe working alone or staying late at the newsroom for fear of similar attacks.

Bano’s murder — which has received limited reporting outside Zan Times — exemplifies the perilous environment for women journalists in Afghanistan, where entrenched gender norms, weakened judicial structures, and pervasive impunity have combined to make both their work and their personal safety increasingly precarious.

Reference – 

https://zantimes.com/2026/01/23/the-murder-of-a-woman-journalist-whose-death-wasnt-even-reported/