Lashings for Child Brides Trying To Escape From Their Marriages
Two adolescent Afghan girls who had been forced into marriages with elderly men ran away disguised as boys because their husbands beat them when they tried to resist consummation of their marriages. However, after two days of fleeing across rough roads and mountain passes, Khadija Rasoul, aged 13, and Basgol Sakhi, aged 14, were spotted as girls by police who stopped the bus they were in at a checkpoint. They were promptly sent back to their village, where they were publicly caned – not by their husbands, not by the Taliban, but by a local mullah.
How The Story Came To Light
The caning took place in January this year. Sympathisers of the girls smuggled two video recordings of the canings to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, which recently released the videos after unsuccessfully lobbying for government action.
Prevalence Of Child Marriages In Afghanistan
Although the Afghan Constitution forbids marriage of girls aged under 16, local customs condone much earlier marriages, often because of poverty. The girl’s family gets a dowry, and there is one mouth less to feed.
Early marriages and forced marriages are the two commonest causes of violent behavior against women an girls, said Fawzia Kofi, a Member of Parliament. Referring to the case of these two girls, she also said, “I am sure there are worse cases we don’t know about”. According to the Human Rights Commission, 2 years ago two girls in Murhab district, near Ghor, who had been sold into marriage into one family escaped after being abused, but they were captured and returned. Their fathers, one the village mullah, took them up to a mountain and killed them.
These marriages are not confined to rural areas, but occur also in the relatively liberal cities. In Herat city, a UNICEF-funded women’s shelter run by Voice of Women Organisation shelters up to 60 girls who have fled child marriages. In Kabul, shelters run by Women for Afghan Women have taken in 108 escaped child brides since January.
Attitude Of The Authorities to Child Marriages And Caning
The experience of the Human Rights Commission in this case probably gives an idea of the attitude of the authorities. Like child marriages, caning is illegal in Afghanistan. The Human Rights Commission gave the videotapes and the results of its investigations to the Governor of Ghor Province, Sayed Iqbal Munib, who set up a commission to investigate the case. However, no further action has been taken because the district is too dangerous to send police to.
As for the police, instead of sending the girls to a shelter, they contacted former warlord Fazil Ahmad Khan. He is described by Human Rights Commission workers as the self-appointed commander and morals enforcer in his district in Ghor Province. It was Fazil Ahmad Khan, who together with local religious leaders, subjected the girls to a kangaroo trial, at which they were sentenced to 40 lashes each. He supervised the lashings.
Outcome For The Girls
“Lucky” may not be the first term one thinks of applying to these girls, but that is how they have been described, because after the lashings, the mullah declared them divorced and sent them back to their families.
Think About It
Is there a religious basis for caning girls who try to escape abuse? If not, why should a mullah be caning the girls? Does Islam not expect men to treat their wives justly? Is beating their child brides just treatment? How can people put pressure on authorities to protect their own citizens?
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