By Ramin
Hanifa, 15, screams as she has her bandages changed for the first time since undergoing skin graft surgery in the burn center of the Herat Regional Hospital in Herat, Afghanistan. Hanifa claimed she turned to commit suicide after being beaten by her mother-in-law. (Photo: Lynsey Addario for the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/08/world/asia/20101108_burn.html?ref=asia)
The charred body of an Afghan refugee, allegedly killed by her in-laws in neighbouring Iran, was brought to southwestern Nimroz province, the victim’s father said on Monday.
Abdul Basir told Pajhwok Afghan News his daughter was burnt by her mother-in-law and husband in Iran’s Sistan Baluchistan province five days ago. She had been sprinkled with gasoline before being set on fire, the father alleged.
Basir, who is currently living in Iran, said her daughter was married to a young boy of an Afghan refugee family a year ago. But her mother-in-law would always encourage her son to rough up his wife.
“When I entered my daughter’s house, I found her dead. There was no one else in the house,” the man said, adding Iranian local police had launched an investigation into the incident, but the accused were still at large.
A doctor at the Nimroz Civil Hospital, Abdul Latif, confirmed receiving the woman’s body, saying that she had been completely burnt.