By Hidayatullah Hamdard
Police have arrested a 35-year-old man for allegedly molesting his three and a half years old niece in northern Badakhshan province, while another man stabbed his wife to death in northeastern Takhar, officials said on Tuesday.
The alleged incest took place in Tashkan district, a remote border town, on Monday, Badakhshan police chief Brig. Gen. Imamuddin Mutmaein confirmed to Pajhwok Afghan News. He said the rapist, a married uncle of the victim, had been arrested.
The nature of the incident remained unclear, but police were investigating, he said.
Provincial Women’s Affairs Director Zofnoon Hassam condemned the incident, saying she was aware of it but had no details. She urged judicial organs to award exemplary punishment to the man.
In Takhar, a 20-year-old woman was stabbed to death by her husband in the Zargari area of Taloqan, the provincial capital, on Monday. The victim identified as Razia had married Mullah Sangin, a resident of southern Kandahar province, police spokesman Maj. Abdul Khalil Asir said.
He said the couple had been living in Takhar since their engagement during the Taliban regime. Sangin killed his wife after she refused to move with him to Kandahar, Asir said, adding a manhunt was underway for Sangin.
Razia was the fourth woman to be murdered in Takhar this year, officials at the Women’s Affairs department said.
The department head, Razm Ara Hawash, expressing her concern over increasing murders of women in the province, asked judicial organs to help combat violence against women.