Horrific Forced Abortion In Afghanistan

Brother Cut 5-Month Fetus From 14-Year-Old Girl Who Had Been Raped

(AP)  The 14-year-old Afghan rape victim told the doctor that her brother took her to a cowshed, where he and her mother held her down as he cut out her 5-month fetus with a razor blade, then stitched up the wound with string.

The girl blacked out from the pain but said she remembered seeing her brother hold up the fetus, said Dr. Gulam Mohammad Nader, who treated the teen in a hospital in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan.

The girl was in critical condition Friday at Bagram Air Base outside Kabul, where she was flown the night before after developing a dangerous infection, said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a spokeswoman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The 20-year-old brother was arrested and told The Associated Press in an interview from his jail cell Friday that he was trying to shield the family from public scorn.

In conservative Afghanistan, the shame of sex outside marriage can ruin the lives of a victim and her family. Girls who are raped have little chance of ever getting married and are often blamed for the attack.

"I told my sister that this was bad for us, for our family, and bad for the community," said the brother, who asked that only his first name, Ali, be used. Police said he confessed to cutting out the fetus and burying it.

Nader said the girl told him she did not know what was planned when she was taken into the cowshed. He said a thick string, normally used to sew up potato sacks, was used to close the jagged incision.

Afghanistan is replete with stories of honor killings of women who have been raped or cheated on their husbands, though accused families usually deny any responsibility. Such cases rarely go to court.

Still, police and government officials involved in the 14-year-old's case said they had never heard of any family performing this type of brutal abortion in an attempt to hide a pregnancy.

Afghanistan's legal system is weak or nonexistent in some areas after years of war and insurgency. Most punishments are meted out according to Islamic Shariah law, which can be very severely interpreted in conservative regions like the one in central Afghanistan where the teen lived.

"Islam does not say that a woman who is raped should be killed because she is innocent," said Mullah Habibullah, a senior Muslim cleric in Kabul. "But some families, who don't know better and who aren't educated, sometimes they kill the woman."

The makeshift abortion came to light when the girl's wound became infected. Her father brought her by donkey about 10 days ago to the nearest hospital, about 30 miles from their rural village of Sarezulich, where he told doctors his daughter had been mauled by a dog, Nader said.

Doctors discovered the truth after examining the girl. They called provincial health officials, who told them to send her to the hospital in Bamiyan, about 60 miles away, as quickly as possible to protect her from further violence by her family.

"I was worried they would kill her," said Ihsanullah Shahir, the head of the province's health department. She arrived at Bamiyan hospital Tuesday.

Ali has said he acted alone, though Nader and the administrative head of the district where the family lives, Mohammad Nasir Fayaz, said the girl told them her mother helped hold her down.

Provincial Police Chief Ewaz Khan said authorities plan to arrest the mother, but are waiting to take her into custody because she is an 11-hour trip away and recovering from recently giving birth herself. The remote village is difficult to reach by phone and the mother could not be reached for comment.

The fetus has been recovered, according to Khan.

The man accused of raping the girl, a construction worker helping build a school near the teen's home, is in custody, according to Bamiyan Gov. Habiba Sarabi.

Authorities have become more likely to prosecute rape cases in recent years, but most convicted assailants still only serve a nominal prison term.

Ali said he now regrets his actions and didn't think he was risking his sister's life.

"I had thought it was simple," he said.

[rusure5]

Re: "The man accused of raping the girl, a construction worker helping build a school near the teen''s home, is in custody, according to Bamiyan Gov. Habiba Sarabi."

A US sponsored contractor raped this little girl?

The misery that we have inflicted upon these people is astonishing.

Another ten "coalition" members are dead there so far,just for the current month.

Good luck to the brave people of Afghanistan in expelling the brutal and criminal foreign forces from your land, and in reclaiming your country.

There are many here in the US that are disgusted by what we have done to your people, and would never support it.

[me4prezz]

Re: "The man accused of raping the girl, a construction worker helping build a school near the teen''''s home, is in custody, according to Bamiyan Gov. Habiba Sarabi."

A US sponsored contractor raped this little girl?
rusure5

Where does it say it was an US sponsored contractor? There are other countries over there besides just us. This is a horrific, terrible, tragic story, but why inject this kind of garbage in it. Yes, the US has made mistakes, tragic and horrific are some of them, but there is no way of telling at this point if this was a US sponsored contractor or not, so why stir the waters in that pot?!

[rusure5]

Re: "Where does it say it was an US sponsored contractor? There are other countries over there besides just us. This is a horrific, terrible, tragic story, but why inject this kind of garbage in it. Yes, the US has made mistakes, tragic and horrific are some of them, but there is no way of telling at this point if this was a US sponsored contractor or not, so why stir the waters in that pot?!"

Posted by me4prezz

This is a US-led effort.

Hence, this contractor is either being sponsored by the US or by one of our stooges. Who else?

Do you suppose that this was a Taliban-funded contractor?

This is a tragic story, and the writer does not say who the rapist was working for, But what appears certain, is that this little girl was raped as a result of our meddling there, and that seems to be the more important story here, rather than what their family did out of desperation, after the fact.

[rusure5]

Fortunately, more and more soldiers are refusing to participate in the abominable US campaign against the people of Afghanistan.

They are the only true Western military heroes of that entire conflict.

The US has no legitimate business with Afghanistan, other than to apologize to them and to supply reparations payments, and we never did.

I would like to see our forces leave that country immediately.

Short of that, I would prefer to see every single "coalition" soldier return in a box, rather than see one more Afghan man, woman, or child, killed, maimed, tortured, raped, or terrorized by them in my name.

The same goes for the US forces in Iraq, Pakistan, and elsewhere.

[sbelknap01]

Nothing gets better without food, clean drinking water, shelter, a sustainable economy and EDUCATION. Just ''going away and leaving them alone'' is not an option. We can help, we must help and while it is daunting to realize that the education that would have prevented this horrible story isn''t even on the LIST of things to do until we have massive reform to stabilize the nation, it is not impossible and it is a worthy endeavor.

[evian_ycnan]

A US sponsored contractor raped this little girl?

Posted by rusure5 at 09:46 PM : Jan 09, 2009

No. It says "a construction worker", not a "contractor".

But, the jury is still out. It could be a "US-paid construction worker".

[irmcvet971]

Now this is a guy the Religious Reich can relate too!

[nincomp]

Authorities have become more likely to prosecute rape cases in recent years, but most convicted assailants still only serve a nominal prison term.
+

Had this area been under Taliban rule, the rapist would have been killed long time ago.

[stinginrich]

All in all, this Planet is waaaaaaaaaay overdue for an Asteroid or Super Volcano cleansing of it''s surface......eradicate the human infestation, and back to a clean, natural ecosystem where plants and animals live in perfect balance with nature.
Humans are an abomination and should be eradicated wherever found in the Universe.

[toolmangler-2009]

Authorities have become more likely to prosecute rape cases in recent years, but most convicted assailants still only serve a nominal prison term.

Had this area been under Taliban rule, the rapist would have been killed long time ago.
Posted by nincomp at 08:30 AM : Jan 10, 2009




No they wouldn''t, The girl would have been tried as a wh0re and sentenced to death by stoning.

[beewitchy1]

the heath personal had to send her to a hospital 60 miles awayto keep her safe from her own family?how could a mother,in any country,do this to her own child,let alone the fact that strangers are worried about her family murdering her.all because she was raped?poor young girl.i cant imagine ever hurting my child over anything,let alone public ridicule.and then the fact that her mother just gave birth as well.i sure feel for that baby.hope its a boy.

[luckygirl042]

Lord what fools these mortals be...

[barbaram99]

I am appalled. That they blame a girl when ghe was raped, It the man. I feel for the child.

[famlee14]

So how is the appalling violence done to this Afghan girl by her family different from the violence done to unborn children in America who are also the innocent victims of rape? It seems like Americans have a double standard; one for those abroad, and another for themselves.