Watch: Afghan girl alleges beating by Taliban commander for refusing sex, Taliban post video to refute claim

Herat, Afghanistan

When Taliban took to power, they assured the world that this time their reign will be different from the older times. The group claimed that women will have more freedom, safety and rights. However, actions have not been able to match their words, till now.

As per a new accusation, an Afghan girl was brutally beaten by a Taliban commander because she refused when he demanded sex from her.

The girl also showed alleged bruises of her body in a video posted on social media, which went viral. The incident reportedly took place in Herat, as per the local reports and the video.

In the video being shared on Twitter the girl is seen crying on camera as she claims she was physically abused. She then showed marks of what appears to be the thrashing on her back, legs and other body parts.

However, Taliban rubbished these accusations and claimed that the incident had nothing to do with their commander. The ministry of interior affairs of Afghanistan also produced a boy and a girl who claimed that there had been some confusion and the Taliban commander was not involved in this episode.

Some people, however, believe that the girl seen in the viral video and the one produced by Taliban were different. The woman brought forward by Taliban looks unharmed, giving rise to suspicions that the two girls are different.

"The woman, who was accused of being a criminal in the 12th district of Kabul, was arrested and confessed to doing so at the instigation of another woman," Inamullah Samangani, deputy spokesperson of Taliban regime said in a tweet along with the video he posted.

This accusation comes at a time when women have been fighting for their safety, freedom and rights under the new Taliban rule. Local girls and women have been fighting for their right to study, even though Taliban claim that nearly 75 per cent of girl students are not back in local schools. The statement was made by Taliban's acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi while he was speaking at the Centre for Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa (CAMEA) in Pakistan's Islamabad on Friday.

"When we came to power, in the initial stage, we reopened all male schools from Grade 1 to Grade 12, all the way up to university levels. In the second phase, we opened all girls’ schools in Afghanistan from Grade 1 to Grade 6, and in the third phase from Grade 7 to Grade 12 onwards, they have been reopened in some of the provinces, and they will continue. It is not as if the opening of girls' schools is at a standstill," he said.