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Afghan girl locked in toilet for 5 months: officials

Dec. 28, 2011 - 11:05 By

Afghan police have rescued a teenage girl who was beaten and locked up in a toilet for over five months after she defied her in-laws who tried to force her into prostitution, officials said Tuesday.

Sahar Gul, 15, was found in the basement of her husband's house in northeastern Baghlan province late on Monday after her parents reported her disappearance to the police.

"She was beaten, her fingernails were removed and her arm was broken," district police chief Fazel Rahman told AFP.

Three women including the teenager's mother in-law had been arrested in connection with the case but her husband had fled the area, he added.

The case highlights how women continue to suffer in Afghanistan despite the billions of dollars of international aid which has poured into the country during the decade-long war.

"The 15-year-old girl was brought to hospital with severe shock," said Pul-i-Khurmeri hospital chief Dr Gul Mohammad Wardak.

"She had injuries to her legs and face and the nails on her left had been removed."

Sahar Gul was married to her husband seven months ago in the neighbouring province of Badakhshan, but she was brought to Baghlan to live with her husband, said Rahima Zareefi, the provincial head of women affairs.

During this time her parents were unable to contact her, she said.

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission logged 1,026 cases of violence against women in the second quarter of 2011 compared with 2,700 cases for the whole of 2010.

And according to figures in an Oxfam report in October, 87 percent of Afghan women report having experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence or forced marriage.

Sahar Gul's case comes after a woman known as Gulnaz was pardoned and released earlier this month after spending two years in prison for "moral crimes".

She was jailed after she reported to police that her cousin's husband had raped her. Gulnaz gave birth to the rapist's child in prison.

Last month, the United Nations said that a landmark law aiming to protect women against violence in Afghanistan had been used to prosecute just over 100 cases since being enacted two years ago. (AFP)

 

<한글 기사>

성매매 거부한 10대, 화장실에 5개월간 감금

'성매매' 거부하자 시댁식구가 감금•구타

'성매매'를 거부했다는 이유로 시댁 식구들에 의해 화장실 에서 5개월 동안 감금돼 있던 한 10대 아프가니스탄 소녀가 경찰에 구출됐다.

아프간 경찰은 27일(현지시간) 북부 바글란 지역에 있는 남편의 집 지하에 갇혀 있던 사하르 굴(15)을 구조했다고 밝혔다. 그녀의 부모가 경찰에 실종 신고를 한 지 5개월 만이다.

경찰 관계자는 "그녀는 두들겨맞아 손톱이 없어지고 팔은 부러진 상태였다"고 전했다.

경찰은 이번 사건과 관련된 시어머니를 포함해 여성 3명을 체포했으나 남편은 도주했다고 밝혔다.

현재 사하르 굴은 병원에서 치료를 받고 있다. 병원 측은 "그녀가 심한 충격을 받은 상태"라며 "다리와 얼굴에 상처가 있고 왼쪽 손에 있는 손톱은 없어졌다"고 전 했다.

사하르 굴은 7개월 전 바다흐산주(州)에서 남편과 결혼했으나 남편과 함께 살기 위해 바글란 지역으로 옮겨 왔다. 이 기간 그녀의 부모들은 딸과 연락이 되지 않았다.

이번 사건은 아프간 여성들에 대한 가정 폭력이 얼마나 심각한지를 보여준다.

아프간 인권단체 '독립인권위원회'는 올해 2분기에만 여성에 대한 폭력은 1천26 건이 보고됐다고 밝혔다. 지난해 아프간 여성에 대한 전체 폭력 건수가 2천700건임을 감안할 때 급증한 수치다.

국제 빈민구호단체인 '옥스팜'도 지난 10월 발표한 보고서를 통해 아프간 여성 의 87%가 신체적, 성적, 심리적 폭력이나 혹은 강제 결혼을 경험했다고 밝혔다.