19 hours Ago By Sheer Ahmad Usmani
BAMYAN CITY (Pajhwok): Being a seventh grader; Sakina cherished her childhood dreams, looking for her innocent aspirations and high hopes in the pages of her textbooks. But primitive traditions snatched her books, took away the pen from her hand and put her on a path where she had no right to choose. Sakina (not a real name) was unaware of the true meaning of marriage when her fate was sealed by a tribal jirga.
No one spared a thought for her future, much less her feelings. She was subjected to forced marriage without her consent. No one bothered asking her whether she was willing to be used as a dispute settlement tool.
Three years ago, Sakina’s fate changed in a jiffy when her brother abducted a girl. To resolve the dispute, she was given in marriage to the brother of the girl. Sakina’s partner, more than twice her age, is suffering from physical disabilities and mental health issues.
He cannot even understand her presence in his life. At that time, Sakina was only 13, but in a single night, a collective decision by tribal elders robbed the girl of her childhood. Speaking with a broken voice and her eyes welling up, she told Pajhwok Afghan News: “I had no fault, but I was made a victim for my brother’s mistake.
“I have been forced into living with a disabled man who is more than twice my age and is suffering from mental issues,” she protested. Now, she lives in a mud house in a village in Bamyan City with a 10-member family of her husband, enduring a life full of privations and pain. In her husband’s house, she is not treated as a wife or a family member.
For all practical purposes, she is seen as an unwanted burden. She is not allowed to visit her parents or other family members and does not participate in family ceremonies. Sakina’s movements during the interview were involuntary — her hands clenched, gaze anxious and eyelids fluttering quickly.
She appeared to be haunted by an indefinable fear. Utter hopelessness and grief stemmed from each of her gestures. In a melancholy tone, she complained: “My spouse and all his family members treat me roughly.
On a daily basis, I am humiliated and subjected to violence...
I never felt being treated as a human.” Sakina has this impassioned request: “Please, stop victimising girls. Don’t punish them for the crimes they haven’t committed.
We should not pay for the mistakes of others.” Ghulam Reza, a relative of Sakina, agreed she was a victim of an act she never committed. “Tribal councils take decisions without considering the future of girls.
No one asks what will happen to the girls. All they care about is to resolve disputes, even if the price is the destruction of a human life.” He claimed the tribal elders, who decided Sakina’s fate, never thought that she would live in a hell for the rest of her life.
Although her husband has mental health issues and is more than 30, Sakina was forced to marry him. He was unable to perform heavy tasks due to health problems. In some parts of the country, the practice of “ marriage” is still rampant as a way of resolving family and tribal conflicts.
Kareem Rasooli, a local tribal elder, says: “Girls are usually given in in cases of murder, rape and elopement.” According to him, one of the ways to settle such disputes is to give girls in to avoid future violence and dire consequences. Some religious scholars emphasise such marriages go against the grain of religious teachings and human dignity.
Ali Juma Rizwani, one of the scholars, said underage or forced marriage, without the consent of the parties and their parents, was against Shariah. Girls were often underage in cases and married against their will, he acknowledged, declaring it was not permissible in Islam. He suggested cases of murder, rape and runaway girls be resolved through judicial and legal channels, so the real criminals could be punished and innocent girls were not made victims.
At the same time, Vice and Virtue Department head Maulvi Mahmood Al Hasan Mansouri said the interim government had prohibited forced and underage marriages. Legal action would be taken against violators, promised Mansouri, whose department documented more than 30 cases of sexual abuse, domestic violence, non-provision of financial support (nafaqah), and forced marriage during the current year. Of these, 10 cases have been referred to judicial authorities and 15 others have been resolved, while the rest are still under investigation.
He assured all legal complaints registered with the department would be promptly addressed. sa/mud.
