Following killing of Mena Mangal, rights activists blame Kabul government for failure to implement laws aimed at protecting women
[Islamabad] A prominent Afghan woman was shot to death in Kabul by unknown gunmen on May 11.
Mena Mangal, a cultural adviser for Afghanistan’s lower house and a former TV presenter, was shot dead outside her home in the Kart-e-Naw district of Kabul while on her way to work.
Nusrat Rahimi, an Interior Ministry spokesperson, told The Media Line that a special investigation was underway to identify the culprits but did not provide further details.
Kabul Police spokesperson Ferdows Faramarz told The Media Line that on Saturday morning, two bikers opened fire at Mangal, who died on the spot. There has been no claim of responsibility, and Faramarz speculated that the cause may have been a family dispute.
Before her appointment as a cultural advisor, Mangal worked as a journalist, and then as a newscaster for prominent Pashto news channels.
Bacha Gul, a traffic police official and eyewitness to the shooting, told The Media Line that Mangal had been standing outside her home when two masked people on motorcycles appeared and started shooting in the air, dispersing passers-by. They then opened fire on Mangal before fleeing the scene.
He added that Mangal had been shot in the head at least five times.
While Mangal’s funeral service was in progress, The Media Line spoke exclusively with her maternal uncle, Abdul Rehman Mangal, who said his niece had been raised in a traditional Pashton family. She studied at the Malalay Girls High School in Kabul and had a master’s degree from the city’s Kardan University.
Her uncle said she was always concerned about the attitude of Afghan’s ethnic minority groups that frown on permitting girls to get an education.
“Many families are fighting desperately to educate their daughters, and our niece Mina Mangal was one of those brave [people],” he said, breaking down.
According to her uncle, Mangal was enthusiastic and passionate about being a TV journalist. She worked as a reporter and then a news presenter.
Farah Naz Karimi, a Kabul-based women’s rights activist, told The Media Line that due to her daring reporting and talk-show conversations about human and women’s rights, Mangal was famous among Kabul’s civil society.
“She made a big contribution to the rights of Afghan women to work and for Afghan girls to go to school,” Naz said.
Abdul Rasheed Behzad, an Afghan police official, also said he believed that the motive behind the shooting may have been a family dispute.
He told The Media Line that Mangal was divorced, and that several days before the shooting, her father had filed a report with police accusing her ex-husband of making threatening phone calls to the family. According to Behzad, the ex-husband has not been detained.
Mangal’s father had unsuccessfully requested that the police provide security for the family.
A relative who requested anonymity told The Media Line that according to Pashtun custom, Mangal had been forced to marry in 2017. She filed for divorce through a family court and the divorce was finalized earlier this month.
“Our family strongly believes that her ex-husband is fully involved in Mena’s brutal murder,” the family member said.
Nighat Jamal, another women’s rights activist who is also a lawyer, told the Media Line that on May 3, Mangal had posted fears on social media stating that someone was threatening her. In her post Mangal had written: “…but I am a strong woman, not afraid of death, and I love my country.”
Jamal further said that Mangal’s killing was the result of poor implementation of laws, as well as corruption, at state-owned institutions. She questioned why Mangal’s father had failed to receive police protection for the family after the threatening phone calls.
“We are facing extreme gender inequality, forced marriages, honor killings and domestic violations throughout the country. No doubt, all of us are much concerned about the return of the Taliban regime, but we should work and act together about the safety of working women in Afghanistan,” Jamal said.
During Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, women were barred from working outside the home. Although the Taliban regime was toppled in 2001, Afghan women are still vulnerable.
Lina Rozbih, an Afghan journalist working for the Voice of America, said in a tweet that Mangal is the first female journalist to be killed in 2019.
“Regardless of the nature of this crime and whether it was a family issue or not, the perpetrators must be brought to justice,” she said.