Orato story now in book form: Judge Marzia Babakarkhail’s escape from the Taliban

The book that expands upon the gripping firsthand story published on Orato — that of Judge Marzia Babakarkhail hiding in a sewer to escape execution by the Taliban — is now published.

“Marzia, A Judge’s Fight for Afghan Women’s Rights” has been released by Potomac Books, an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press. 

In the 1990s, despite limited opportunities for women, Babakarkhail became a family court judge and advocated for women’s rights, starting a shelter for divorced women. As the Taliban came into power, she knew she would be a target. When soldiers came to her town, she fled, taking to the sewers to hide.

“For four hours, I huddled there, surrounded by dirt and stench, flies biting me all over. I knew the Taliban men had come to kill me. In my hiding place, I thought they would find me. I was just waiting to be shot, but they left.”

Babakarkhail co-wrote the book with Pamela Say, who published the first-person account for Orato in April 2022. The Afghan judge sought and won asylum in the United Kingdom, where she continues to be an inspiration, part-time case worker in the UK parliament, lobbyist and campaigner. She achieved refugee status in 2009 and British citizenship in 2016.