BBC Persian (Translated by RAWA), September 22, 2008

Claim of Rape of a 12-year Old girl in Qunduz, Northern Afghanistan

In the past six month ten cases of rape of children had been recorded in North-east Afghanistan

A family in Qunduz province in North Afghanistan has claimed that four people had raped their 12-year old daughter.

This girl who herself was present in the binoculars of the press told reporters that first she had been kidnapped on the way from her home to the city and kept in an unknown place for a night. This 12-year old also said that four men had raped her.

The girl has stopped going to school out of shame and her sisters also avoid school and the public.

The parents of the girl, demanded the government and security authorities to punish the rapists.

The Qunduz Police also confirmed the case true but said that the incident had occurred 20 days back and the police had arrested three of the people involved.

The police authorities in Qunduz believe that the root cause for occurrences such as rape of children, are personal and family enmities.

Zahir Zafari, the person in charge of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission office in said that the news was true and added that in the past six month ten cases of rape of children had been recorded in North-east Afghanistan.

A month back a person who was imprisoned for the crime of raping escaped from the court before his case could be completed.

BBC reporter in the area said that the occurrence of such incidents have increased tension among the people.

…

It is only in the past two years that some families have accepted to refer to the legal authorities and media. Before that they tried to conceal the matter in every possible manner.

Some time back Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, fired some police officers in Sar-e-Pul province for “being careless in their duty”.

Karzai also demanded the severe punishment of those involved in child rapes from the judicial authorities of Afghanistan.

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