A female Afghan judge says the men she had once sentenced to jail are now hunting her

• A woman told Reuters the men she jailed as a judge were hunting her down in Afghanistan.
• The Taliban freed thousands of prisoners upon taking over Afghanistan.
• Women in Afghanistan are fearful that the Taliban will conduct human-rights violations and impose severe restrictions on them.

A female judge who has fled Taliban-run Afghanistan told Reuters she was being hunted down by the very same men she had once put in prison.

"Four or five Taliban members came and asked people in my house: 'Where is this woman judge?' These were people who I had put in jail," the judge, who has not been unidentified, told Reuters.

The Taliban freed thousands of prisoners - including ISIS-K and al-Qaeda militants - after taking over Afghanistan.

The judge, who now resides in Europe after a group of human-rights volunteers helped her escape, told Reuters she fears for those she left behind at home.

"Their messages are of fear and complete terror," she said. "They tell me if they do not get rescued their lives are in direct danger."

The Taliban took over Afghanistan following President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw US troops from the region. In its takeover, the Taliban renamed the country to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, reverting back to the same name used during the last time the regime took power, in 1996.

Under the Taliban's rule at that time, women were severely oppressed, facing restrictions like being barred from working or attending schools.

While the militant group has promised to respect women's rights "within Islamic law," human rights activists, Afghan women, and the White House have been skeptical.

It's not clear yet what rules the Taliban will implement for women. But already there have been signs that women stand to face consequences under their control.

Soon after their seizure of Afghanistan's government, Taliban fighters reportedly set an Afghan woman on fire for feeding them "bad cooking," Insider's Joshua Zitser reported.

Taliban fighters also instructed a reporter from CNN to step aside while reporting on camera because she's a woman.

One Afghan woman pleaded with an American soldier, begging for help. The woman was behind bars trying to communicate with the soldier. "Help, help," she said, crying and in between gasps. "I want to help family. Taliban coming for me."