“They live in a constant state of fear,” said Aziza Ahmadi, the acting head of women’s affairs in Bamian Province. She was among those officials who tried to negotiate an amicable settlement with Zakia’s family, but they remained vehemently opposed to the union because they are Tajiks and Sunni Muslims, whereas Mohammad Ali is a Hazara and a Shiite Muslim. “They’re really at risk if they stay here,” Ms. Ahmadi said. “It’s better for them to leave the country.”

They tried that, too. Officials at the United States Embassy, as well as at several European embassies in Kabul, told them they could consider their asylum request only if they first fled as refugees to a neighboring country.

In October, they crossed into Tajikistan on visas, along with Mohammad Ali’s father, Anwar, intending to apply for status as refugees, in the hopes of then asking for asylum in the West. Like many Afghans, all three of them have only first names.

Refugee officials had told them they qualified on at least five grounds, any one of which would normally qualify someone for asylum, including a serious threat to their lives based on discrimination because of gender, race, religion, ethnicity and choice of spouse.

Shortly after they started the process to register with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Tajikistan, Zakia and Mohammad Ali were stopped on a busy street in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, during daytime by two men who identified themselves as police officers.