Afghanistan: Divorce rate continues to increase in Nimroz

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By Ramin On Jul 07, 2015 – 14:25

ZARANJ (Pajhwok): “My husband pulled out my hairs and smashed me on the ground without any known reason, leaving me injured. I am tired of leading life with him and I want to separate my ways with him,” wailing Nasrin, a resident of Zaranj, the capital of southwestern Nimroz province said.

Nasrin 20 who had been married three years ago recalled that her life was going well with her husband in the first years but interference by her mother-in-law and others made her life miserable.

“My mother-in-law incites my husband to beat and harass me,” Nasrin said, adding she was not even allowed to switch on a fan of the room.

She claimed she was behaving in a good manner with her in-laws but she wondered why they behaved harshly with her.

She recalled that her husband severely beaten her last week and now she was living with her father. “I did not return to my husband despite my in-laws repeated requests,” she added.

“My last decision is get myself divorced or they should separate my house from my mother-in-law,” she added. Nasrin who left school after marriage has one daughter of two years.

Akhtar Mohammad, father of Nasrin, said that his son-in-law did not pay the doctor fee and buy medicine for Nasrin when she was ill.

He said that he had paid 80,000 afghanis Nasrin’s health issues.

Mohammad added that her daughter was infected with typhoid and rheumatism about a month ago and he shifted her to Kandahar and Kabul hospitals for treatment.

However, Nasrin said she had referred two times to the department of women affairs to get divorce from her husband but she was advised by elders to be patient and live with her husband.

Amina Hakimi, director women affairs, said that she had once resolved Nasrin’s problem and convinced her husband family not to treat her badly.

“Currently, we don’t know what happened to her because no one has referred and complained about the issue. However, we would try the wife and husband live together,” she said.

But Nasrin’s husband Abdul Rashid who is a shopkeeper said that his wife’s aunt interfere in their life and trying to create problems in their private relations.

He said that he was forced to beat his wife after the interference of relatives of his spouse.

According to the provincial women department, 36 cases of violence against women including nine of them led to divorce were registered this year as compared to three divorce cases last year in Nimroz.

A civil society activist Shah Gul Gulzada said most of divorce cases were resulted from joblessness and poverty. He said some youths traveled to Iran addicted to drug and create family problems when returning homes.

He said that drug addiction was also a cause of increase in cases of divorce.

Gulzada urged government to provide job opportunities to youth to prevent them from traveling abroad and improving their marriage life.

Four cases of violence against women this year in Jawzjan included elopement, three cases of beating, one case of cancelling engagement, two cases of not feeding, two under age engagements and one case of self-immolation.

Two women and a girl were also murdered as a result of violence against women and five people were arrested in connection to the incidents this year. There was no murder case registered with the department of women affairs last year.

Two months ago, a 12-year-old schoolgirl was killed after she was taken to home of one of her classmates in Zaranj city. The body of the slain girl was found after the family of the victim reported that their daughter was missing. Police arrested five members of the family involved in the case.

The reason of the incident was unclear. Women were faced various types of violence.

Amina Hakimi, director women affairs, linked violence against women to poverty, joblessness and drug addiction. “We have public awareness programs to reduce violence cases against women. We campaign village by village and home by home and advise women to respect their husbands’ rights. We also advise men to respect their wives’ rights,” she said.

Another civil society activist Shima Sediqi said violence against women had been increased as compared to the past.

She said that women most of the times had suffered from violence but the people causing the violence were not punished under the law.

She said perpetrators of violence must be treated in accordance with the law.

Afghanistan Women’s Political Committee (AWPC) had recently asked civil society institutes to build pressure on parliament to approve prevention of violence against women law.

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