2014 Street Performance Photo Shared As 'Taliban Selling Girls' in Afghanistan

A group called 'Compassion 4 Kurdistan' had staged a play in London in 2014 to raise awareness about ISIS's actions.

A photo showing a man holding a chain tied to a woman is being circulated on social media, in the backdrop of the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan, with the claim that the radical militant group is selling girls as sex slaves.

However, we found that this photo is from 2014 when a group called 'Compassion 4 Kurdistan' had staged a street play called 'Islamic State sex slave market' in London to raise awareness of terror group Islamic State of Syria and Iraq's (ISIS) action in Iraq.

CLAIM

A Facebook user shared the photo claiming that the Taliban is "auctioning" women in Afghanistan.

The post has also been shared by Shefali Vaidya, author and right-wing ideologue, who has often been called out for spreading disinformation.

An archived version of her tweet can be seen here. The post had garnered over 11,000 reactions at the time of writing this article.

Archived links of more claims can be accessed here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

We conducted a reverse image search using Yandex search engine and came across the picture on a website called 'Telegraf'.

The headline of the story written in Turkish translated to 'Meaningful action against ISIS gangs in London'. The story was published on 17 October 2014 and photo courtesy was given to one 'Ari Murad'.

We looked up Ari Murad's Facebook profile and found a video published on 1 March 2016 which showed similar scenes. The video mentioned that "this is a demonstration to shock audiences in to seeing ISIS and their brutality (sic)".

The demonstration was conducted in London by a group called 'Compassion 4 Kurdistan' a group of Kurdish diaspora, which is trying to create awareness about ISIS's actions in Iraq.

Earlier, a video of the same demonstration went viral on social media with a claim that it shows men auctioning women on a street corner in Afghanistan. We had debunked that story and it can be read here.

However, it is important to note that women in Afghanistan now fear for their rights, safety, lives, and future as the Taliban takes over the country. This has raised fears about human rights violations and repressive policies.

But this photograph doesn't depict the current situation in the country.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)