Kabul, January 03: A 15-year-old Afghan girl severely tortured for months by her in-laws in an attempt to force her into prostitution will be sent to India for medical treatment, an Afghan official said Monday.
Sahar Gul’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law were arrested and her husband was being sought, said Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi. The case has shocked Afghanistan, though rights activists say serious abuses against women and girls in the conservative society are common. President Hamid Karzai has said that whoever used violence against Gul will be punished.
According to officials in northeastern Baghlan province, the in-laws kept Gul in a basement for six months, ripped her fingernails out, tortured her with hot irons and broke her fingers. Police freed her last week. The public health and women’s affairs ministers visited Gul, who is now in a Kabul hospital.
She was freed from a basement at her husband’s home last week after her uncle called the local police. “It is a violent act that is unacceptable in the 21st century,’’ Sediqi said. “We are thankful of Sahar Gul’s uncle.’’ He added that “if the police had not arrived in time she may have died.’’ Gul was married about seven months ago. Jawad Basharat, spokesman for the provincial police chief in Baghlan, said an arrest warrant had been issued for her husband, who is serving in the Afghan army.
“After the police found out about the small girl Sahar Gul they took action and found her in the basement of the house in very bad condition,’’ Basharat said. According to preliminary reports, Basharat said, “they tried to force her into prostitution and she did not agree.”
——Agencies