PAN, January 29, 2014

2 women killed, teenage bride hanged

The number of women killed in the province surged to 16 with the latest fatalities

By Hidayatullah Hamdard & Hadi Ghafari

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a woman and a girl in Kunduz while a bride was found hanged in central Daikundi province, officials said on Tuesday.

Armed men stormed a house last night, leaving a woman and a girl dead in the Chehl Dukhtaran area on the outskirts of Kunduz City, police said.

The woman and the girl were aged 22 and 18 respectively, according to Syed Sarwar Hussaini, the police spokesman, who believed a family feud was behind the incident. He told Pajhwok Afghan News the perpetrators were yet to be arrested.

The number of women killed in the province surged to 16 with the latest fatalities. A furious husband shot dead his 35 years old wife last month.

Nadira Gia, the women affairs director, condemned the murder had demanded immediate arrest of the killers.

Separately, a 17-year-old bride was found hanged in the capital of Daikundi last night. Col. Nawroz Ali, the crime branch chief, said an investigation had been launched.

Zakia Rezayee, the women affairs director, said the motive behind the killing was yet to be ascertained. The victim had reportedly told her father that her father-in-law had threatened her with death.

The Ministry of Women Affairs says 137 women and girls were killed last year and 58 others this year across the country.

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