Afghan girl, 15, tortured by in-laws to go to India for treatment

AN 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.

Sahar Gul’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law were arrested and her husband was being sought, said Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi yesterday.

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 the 15-year-old 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 told reporters. “We are thankful of Sahar Gul’s uncle.”

He added that “if the police had not arrived in time she may have died.”

He did not provide details on the treatment she would seek in India. But many Afghans with serious injuries or illnesses prefer to go to India or Pakistan for care because of poor medical services in Afghanistan.

Gul was married about seven months ago. A police spokesman said an arrest warrant had been issued for her husband, who is serving in the Afghan army. “After 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,” Jawad Basharat said.

“Her nails were pulled out, she has injuries in all parts of her body, there are signs of burning on her body, she was suffering from different kinds of injuries.”

He said her mother-in-law and other members of the family were reportedly involved in what he called “criminal activities,” which he said included selling alcohol and prostitution.

Rahima Zarifi, provincial director of women’s affairs in Baghlan, said a commission had been set up under Karzai’s orders to investigate the case. “According to the neighbours in the area, Sahar Gul’s in-law’s were not good people. Besides selling alcohol, they were involved in prostitution and that is why they put pressure on Sahar Gul to join with them. She was not happy with it and that is why they put her in the basement, detained her for six months and tortured her.

“They pulled out her nails. You can see the signs of torture and abuse all over her body, several types of torture and abuse. They even burned her with hot irons,” Zarifi added.

Health minister Suraya Dalil said that despite progress in women’s rights, work remained to be done.