A.Hakimi
Afghanistan, Kabul: A six-year-old boy has been raped and a newly-wed woman killed with an axe by her father-in-law in the northern province of Samanagan, police and officials say.
The six-year-old, Samiullah, a resident of the provincial capital Aibak was raped by 18-year-old Muhammad Ullah on Friday after the teenager lured Samiullah into his garden with offerings of fruit, the head of the province’s criminal branch, Habib-ul-Rahman Saighani, said.
Saighani said Muhammad Ullah had admitted raping the boy. A doctor in the local hospital confirmed the rape. In a separate incident in the same city, a man murdered his daughter-in-law with an axe days after she married his son.
Najibullah, the bride’s brother, said the 18-year-old newly wed, Firishta, had visited her father’s home during Eid. When her husband came to collect her, she refused to go home with him. Firishta’s father-in-law returned with an axe and murdered her in front of her family, Najibullah said.
He said his sister was hit seven times with the axe on the side of her head and on her neck. The bride’s father-in-law, who is in police custody now, said: "When I wanted to take my daughter-in-law home, she wanted a divorce from my son. I got angry and brought an axe from the bazaar and killed her in front of her mother and brother. I am not sorry for my deed."
The head of the department for women’s affairs in Samangan, Hanifa Ashna, condemned the rape and the murder, urging the government to punish the criminals.
She said crime would only increase if the criminals went unpunished.
Violence against women in the province has risen, with 34 recorded incidents in the first six months of this year compared to 28 for the whole of 2007, Ashan said