The Religion of Pieces strikes again.
Reza Gul/AFP Photo
An Afghanistan woman, Reza Gul, 20, was attacked by her husband after arguing with him over his decision to take a 6- or 7-year-old niece as his fiancée. Gul’s husband, Muhammad Khan, 25, then allegedly cut off her nose with a knife. Gul’s mother, Zarghona, told the Times that Khan and his family had beaten and abused Gul throughout her six-year marriage.
Yahoo reports that Gul brought her severed nose with her to the hospital and had already lost a lot of blood, according to hospital officials. But the local Afghan facility was not equipped to reattach her nose. Gul is seeking to travel to Turkey to have reconstructive surgery, according to the the Times. A police official told the Times that the Taliban had arrested Khan and is holding him in custody.
According to the U.N., Afghanistan remains one of the worst places to be a woman, and violence against women remains “endemic.” Child marriages, like the one Khan was said to be arranging, are also common, robbing girls of the opportunity for education and often leading to abuse.
AP notes that many Afghan women are victims of domestic violence because constitutional rights for protection are often denied to women in the country. And progress toward achieving rights for women is often met with significant resistance. This month, women were not invited to join the Afghan delegation during peace talks aimed at ending the country’s decades-long conflict.
Read all the details in The New York Times and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission report.
DCG
