I am Fatima, age 16 years, from Kapisa.
On August 2, 2022 I left home to get water because we don’t have clean water at home. I would get water from a small stream.
On my way home at 4 PM, two taliban gunmen walked in front of me and asked me many questions in Pashto, I told them I don’t know Pashto, I am Tajik, so talk with me in Persian.
They grabbed me, tied my hands and feet and one man put his hand over my mouth to stop my shouting. I shouted a lot and they put a cloth in my mouth and put a bag over my head. Some neighbors saw this and they came to help. But these two men started fighting with them and I heard gunfire. I couldn’t see and I don’t know how many people got injured trying to help me.
They moved me to a different place and after several hours, in the middle of the night, they moved me to another place. It was at this time they started raping me.
They acted like they hated me so much, they punched me, slapped me.
20 days they raped me. I was in pain. Nobody can imagine this pain. They used my whole body, my anus and vagina.
They didn’t see that I am human. I am not a machine. I am human. I know these men are not human or animals. Because animals are good.
I cried, I begged them. It’s hard to tell you, to explain. I felt dead with no hope.
After 20 days, my father and some neighbors found the hiding place and they started to fight these Taliban men. One of the rapists was killed, the other escaped.
One of the worst things I saw at this Taliban home was a lot of other women's clothing all over the home. I understood this was a place where they raped many women.
Because of poverty, we didn’t go to private hospital and I was scared to go to a government hospital because they are run by the Taliban.
My father told me, I will sell my blood and I will help you. He sold some furniture and things from our home to get enough money to pay for one doctor to come visit me at home. He gave me some pain medicine but not much else.
Lucky I heard about a free mobile clinic. They advertised in our village on 29 Aug that an organization will have a free mobile clinic on 2 September for women, children and men.
I was so happy and waited for 2 September.
On 2 September I went to the free clinic and I told my story to the Doctors and they gave me a lot medicine and the Doctors there told me 'we will talk to the people who run the clinic to see if we can give you more help'. I left my fathers contact information so they could find me later.
After a few days one of the doctors came to our home. They couldn’t get through to my dad on his phone because of network issues but this doctor searched the village for four days to find our home. The doctor said that 'Ms Leslie wants you to come to Kabul and she will pay for your medical care and everything you need'.
Now we are in Kabul in a safe home and I am very happy. I see the doctors this week for surgery.