KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – An Afghan father was on a quest for justice Monday after saying that his pregnant 14-year-old daughter was burned to death by her in-laws, the latest reported case of violence against women in the country.
Afghanistan faces serious human rights issues, including physical and sexual violence against women and so-called honor killings that often involve immolation.
The 45-year-old father, Mohammad Azam, said that he came to the capital, Kabul, to seek justice for his daughter Zarah. He told The Associated Press that she was tortured and set on fire by her husband’s family last week. She died in a Kabul burns hospital on Saturday.
Azam said Zarah’s killing, which happened in a remote area of central Ghor province, was in revenge after he had eloped two years ago with a young cousin of his daughter’s husband.
Zarah’s in-laws had struck a marriage deal with him, Azam said, letting him marry the cousin in payment for a debt they owed him for construction work. But they later reneged on the deal, he said, after promising the cousin to another man for more money.
