Misleading: Afghan Volleyball Player Beheaded by Taliban

Dina Faisal

Sports

25th October 2021

Misleading: Afghan Volleyball Player Beheaded by Taliban

Family refuted the circulating (Screenshot).

The Claim

An Afghan female volleyball player was beheaded by the Taliban.

News posted on

Emerging story

A viral claim on social media that the Taliban beheaded an Afghani female volleyball player Mahjabin Hakimi, as a message to discourage other female athletes.

‘Afghan women's youth volleyball player reportedly beheaded by Taliban.’ 😢

Global sport bodies.

It’s very, very simple.

Get. Your. Female. Athletes. Out.

And ban Afghanistan from all international competition. https://t.co/Rm6S4GNi4w
— Craig Foster (@Craig_Foster) October 22, 2021

Mahjabin Hakimi played in the Afghan junior women's national volleyball team. A coach has alleged that she was beheaded by the Taliban earlier this month.https://t.co/XzP6y6PIen
— Monika Arora (@advmonikaarora) October 20, 2021

Misbar’s Analysis

The Misbar team investigated the claims. A journalist who had spoken to the family confirmed that the news was misleading.

Guys, spoke to a family member of Ms. Hakimi and have deleted the tweets about her death. Please consider the family’s request and delete them too. The news about the cause of her death is misleading. Please do pray for her peace. RIP
— Deepa. K. Parent (@DeepaParent) October 19, 2021

While another journalist stated that Mahjabin committed suicide ten days before Kabuls takeover by the Taliban, Mahjabin's father spoke to Aamaj news. He proclaimed that the Taliban did not kill his daughter.

This was also reemphasized by Raihana Hashimi, who knew the deceased personally.

She was a member of Afghan National Army Commando and was killed by her in laws 10 days before The Taliban... I knew her personally
— Raihana Hashimi (@RaihanaHashimi) October 20, 2021

Mahjabin's father also confirmed that she passed away on August 6, 2021. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 17, 2021. This ensures that she died before the Taliban held power in the country. Mahjabin’s brother posted a black picture on August 7 on his Facebook page.

Although the Misbar team could not confirm the cause of death, it becomes clear that she passed away before the Taliban took over Afghanistan. However, she was not beheaded by the Taliban in October. Therefore, the claim is misleading.