An Indian travel vlogger faced detention and threats of arrest in Afghanistan.
Arunima, who runs the Facebook page Backpacker Arunima, said she reached Bamyan around 7 pm after hitchhiking on a truck. Because she was travelling without a male companion, or mahram, or an official guide, arunima said she had previously tried to obtain a permit in Jalalabad but was refused.
KOCHI: A Keralite woman travel vlogger who had earlier claimed that she was arrested by the “Mujahideen” while travelling through Afghanistan has alleged that authorities in Bamyan threatened to arrest her for travelling alone without a male companion or guide. It was already dark when she arrived, prompting local residents and authorities to approach her, she said. She said she became frightened after being told that she could be arrested. The man returned and spoke to the authorities on her behalf, she said.
The authorities questioned her through a translation app and examined her documents while she was charging her phone at the local hall where she was staying, she claimed.
She then contacted an English-speaking local man who had earlier helped her reach Bamyan.
The authorities demanded 10,000 Afghanis for a permit and said she would also have to pay for an official guide, according to Arunima. Screenshot of her Facebook post Arunima is now safe and was released after being held for several hours, according to her subsequent social media posts. (With agency inputs) You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Kochi | Silver Rate in Kochi | Bank Holidays in Kochi | Public Holidays in Kochi Stay updated with the latest Kochi news.
Authorities checked her passport, visa and travel permit and told her that she had violated local rules that require women to travel with a male companion or guide, according to Arunima. I had violated the law, according to their rules. Then they told me that they were going to arrest me,” she said in a social media post. She told them that she wanted to leave Afghanistan and travel towards Uzbekistan. After prolonged discussions, the authorities eventually allowed her to continue towards the border without obtaining the permit, she said. I was completely frozen and didn’t know what to do,” Arunima said, adding that she had “literally begged” the local man to help explain her situation.
“When they saw my visa, they realised that I had entered this country on the 27th of last month. That meant that I had been travelling alone in this country all these days. “Until he came, my heart was beating extremely fast. Download the TOI App.
Arunima said she planned to travel around 500 kilometres towards the Uzbekistan border and expected to encounter several checkpoints along the way.
She had earlier sought help in contacting the Indian embassy, saying she was “in trouble in Afghanistan” and was in Bamyan. She had also shared what she described as a translation of an official communication from local authorities, which stated that she had been arrested by the “Mujahideen”. “My ‘crime’ was simply that I had travelled alone as a woman in a country where women are not allowed to travel alone,” the travel vlogger said.