The mother-of four said that she had run away with another man after her husband beat and mistreated her. One night in her new home as she slept alongside her partner, police raided the house and took her to the police station wearing only her nightwear.
When she was later questioned, Zahra said that she received little sympathy.
Dozens of complaints every week
Female detainees have told IWPR that they face sexual harassment and abuse both from police officers during pre-trial detention and from justice officials during investigation.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) also said that they had received numerous reports from women who were harassed or assaulted by justice or security officials.
She said that female police officers should be the ones dealing with women prisoners and suspects, but this rarely happened as there are so few women working within the system.
Women were deterred from making a formal complaint due to the shame associated with such matters and also because of the assumption that they would not be believed.
Sexually harassed by police officers
Even women not suspected of any crimes who are brought into police stations for their own protection say that they are harassed. Sahar, now 15, was kidnapped three years ago in Kunduz province and held captive by armed militia in Takhar province. During her ordeal she was raped several times and is now pregnant.
She said when, in late December 2016, she was rescued from the armed gang she was taken to Takhar police headquarters before being transferred to a safe house.
However, in the several days she spent at police headquarters, she said that she was sexually harassed by police officers.
She said that she had complained to Takhar police headquarters and was only promised by the police chief that he would respond to her complaint.
Takhar provincial police chief Noor Mohammad Hakim said that although he was not in his position at the time of the alleged incident, he would now launch an investigation.
Assumption of impunity
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