'I'm safe now': Keralite vlogger who claimed she was arrested by Mujahideen says she escaped threat of arrest in Afghanistan

A Keralite travel vlogger who previously claimed she was arrested by “mujahideen” in Afghanistan says she is now safe after she claimed local authorities threatened her with arrest in Bamyan due to the country’s law that women cannot travel without a male companion or guide.

“According to the laws of this country, a woman cannot travel alone,” said ‘Backpacker Arunima’, adding that she was earlier denied a permit in Jalalabad because she was traveling alone.

However, in her latest post from Afghanistan, she wrote, “I’m safe now,” without giving any details.

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Threat of arrest in Afghanistan

According to the vlogger, the authorities in Bamyan told her that she had broken the law and would be arrested.

Narrating the incident in her social media post, Arunima said she arrived in Bamyan around 7pm and was questioned about her passport, visa and permit.

In her Facebook post, Arunima wrote: “This evening I followed a truck and came to a place called Bamyan. When I got here it was around 7pm and it was already dark. The moment I got out of the vehicle, people started approaching me because according to the rules here, a woman would not normally be out alone at night.”

Describing the alleged incident in detail, Arunima said she was extremely scared after being told she had broken the law and faced immediate arrest. The vlogger therefore said she contacted an English-speaking local man who had previously helped her get to Bamyan, and he spoke to the authorities on her behalf.

According to her account, the authorities insisted that she pay a 10,000 Afghani fine, obtain a permit and travel with an official guide. She said that after discussions, she was eventually allowed to continue to the next country.

“My ‘crime’ was simply traveling alone as a woman in a country where women cannot travel alone,” the travel vlogger said, adding that she planned to travel about 500 kilometers to the Uzbek border and expected to encounter several checkpoints along the way.

Arunima said she was extremely scared and worried that something might happen to her, so she posted the story on Instagram, hoping someone would come to her rescue.

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Arrested by the Mujahideen

In an earlier post, Arunima sought help to get in touch with the Indian embassy, saying, “I’m in trouble in Afghanistan. I’m in Bamyan.”

In the post, she also shared what she described as a translation of an official statement from local authorities that said she had been arrested by “mujahideen”.

The veracity of the post could not be ascertained and there was no immediate response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The post did not provide further details about the circumstances of her alleged arrest or who detained her.

Arunima is traveling in Afghanistan and has posted several videos on her social media pages.