Taliban in Afghanistan Order Decapitations … of Mannequins

Taliban authorities in western Afghanistan have issued orders to local shop owners requiring them to remove the heads from mannequins. A video clip ^[1] showing men sawing the heads off female shop dummies in Herat has gone viral on social media. But it’s not clear if the ban applies to just one of the sexes. Full human figures of either sex could be considered a violation of Islamic law. There is no national policy on mannequins, but local authorities have the power to clamp down on practices that they consider to be immoral. Shopkeepers aren’t all happy with the decapitation demand. Mannequins cost around 5,000 afghanis ($50) each – no small sum in a country where the per capita GDP is around $570. Some have challenged and attempted to skirt the new rules by covering the mannequins with scarves or bags, but Aziz Rahman, head of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Herat, told AFP that this was insufficient. “If they just cover the head or hide the entire mannequin, the angel of Allah will not enter their shop or house and bless them,” he said.