PAN, May 30, 2012

Girl, 22, hangs herself to death in Ghor

By Muhammad Hassan Hakimi

A 22-year-old girl hanged herself to death after her family engaged her to a person in an exchange marriage in the Lal Sarjangal district of western Ghor province on Wednesday, an official said.

The girl identified as Ruqia killed herself at home at around 10am, a month before her marriage was fixed, the district crime branch police chief, Ma. Nazir Hussain, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

A police party had been sent to the area for investigating the incident, he said, adding Ruqia was the third girl committing suicide over the past one month.

“The girl was going to be married to a person whose sister had wed her brother. The marriage was being arranged against the victim’s will,” he said.

Provincial council member Sadiq Yousafi said several such incidents occurred in the province over the past one month. “Most of girls commit suicide when their families force them into marrying men of parents’ choice," he said, adding of the seven girls killed over the past one year, four of them were killed by their families.

Provincial human rights director, Jawad Rezayi, expressed concerns over increasing suicide cases among young girls, saying the incidents could continue to increase if the government did not address the issue.

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