A week after the Taliban swept to power in August, a businessman who had become an official in Afghanistan’s new government turned up at Ayesha’s home. He demanded the family hand over Ayesha and her four sisters to repay what he said was a $250,000 debt owed by her brother.

The women would be married to the man and his sons, he said. “If you don’t have money, you have sisters,” the man told them, according to Ayesha, who asked to be identified only by her first name.

Now, Ayesha, who studied journalism as a university student, and her family are hiding in a safe house arranged by an aid worker. “I will never accept marrying a Talib,” Ayesha said. “If he catches us, we will lose our future.”…

Forced “marriages” to Taliban members—which can often amount to kidnapping and rape, women say—have occurred frequently in recent months. Ayesha’s mother said surrendering her daughters for marriage to the businessman would be akin to giving them up as “slaves.”

Qari Saeed Khosti, a spokesman for the interior ministry, said marrying a woman against her will is prohibited, and that any such marriage under duress would be considered void according to the Islamic Shariah. “It’s not allowed in Islam,” he said. “You’d be committing adultery.”