Pajhwok Afghan News, April 3, 2007

14-year-old sets wife on fire

"Last evening, they sprinkled petrol and set me ablaze"

Khan Wali

ASADABAD: A 20-year-old woman was burnt by her in-laws over family dispute in the eastern province of Kunar.

Gulsoom is 17-years-old and married. Last year she tried to commit suicide - she failed. She set fire to herself but survived with appalling injuries.
(BBC News, Dec.7, 2006)

The ill-fated woman Zohra was married to a 14-year-old boy in the Kirala village about nine months back.

The family dispute emerged just two months after the wedding and her teenaged husband and the mother-in-law used to beat and torture her, Zohra told Pajhwok from her hospital bed in Asadabad.

"Last evening, they sprinkled petrol and set me ablaze," said the woman whose body was bitterly burnt and talked with difficulty.

Mir Mohammad, father of the bruised woman, said the families had happily tied the not of their children nine months back and they had no grudge at that time. "I don't know why my daughter was subjected to such cruelty."

But mother of the girl told a different story when asked about the incident. She said mother of the boy wanted to find another bride for her son. "This is why they used to beat my daughter and tried to kill her."

This is the fourth incident of its type since the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001 in the eastern province of Kunar.

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