Afghan child bride had escaped torturers but was sent back | World news | guardian.co.uk
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/02/afghan-girl-escaped-torturers-sent-back
A 15-year-old Afghan girl who was nearly tortured to death by her husband and his family attempted to escape her attackers more than four months ago but was sent back home by local authorities, it has emerged.
Sahar Gul, a child-bride married off to a soldier called Gulam Sakhi who then tried to force her into prostitution, is being treated for horrific injuries in a hospital in Kabul after she was rescued last week.
During her ordeal several of her fingernails were ripped out with pliers and one of her ears was badly burned by an iron. Her husband is now on the run, and her mother-in-law and sister-in-law have been arrested.
Abdullah Fahim, a senior adviser to the minister of public health, said the case was part of the “bitter reality” of Afghanistan.
“We have several cases like this, especially in remote parts of the country where there is not a strong attitude to women’s rights,” he said.
He added that the ministry had dedicated a team of psychiatrists to the girl: “Her physical wounds are getting better day by day, but we are very concerned about her mental condition because she has been tortured for a long period of time.”
The law on the elimination of violence against women was passed more than two years ago and criminalised many abuses for the first time, including domestic violence and child marriage.
But a recent UN report found only a small percentage of reported crimes against women are pursued by the Afghan government.