In God´s name
14.08.2009
I do not know where I should begin. Which of the misfortunes or restrictions Afghani women suffer should I tell you about?
Perhaps the reader can not understand what it is like for Afghani women, but I think God has given Afghani women enormous patience. They have no freedoms, that is to say they can not decide whom to marry, what education to take, about their future or how many children they have.
I do not know if there is any hope that life in Afghanistan will sometime in the future be like life elsewhere in the world. In Afghanistan more girls and women commit suicide, set fire to themselves or are murdered than anywhere else in the world. Here's a true story - which is also the story of thousands of women. Please read it:
Nasim's story
Nasim’s tragic story began when her father decided that she should get married. In Afghanistan it is the men who decide. Nasim was just a 9 year old girl when her father arranged her marriage to one of his friends, Abdullah. Abdullah was about 35 years old. He already had a wife and four children. Afghani men are allowed to marry several women, and the women can not protest. Nasim became Abdullah’s second wife. After wedding ceremony Abdullah took Nasim back to his house.
He was very domineering and dictatorial. Abdullah did not allow his wives to have contact with other people nor to visit their families. He abused and tortured them. He always found an excuse to beat them. When he saw Nasim or his other wife outside the home he accused them of being up to something. After four years, as a 13 year old, Nasim gave birth to a son and at the same time Abdullah took a third wife. He also abused his third wife and looked upon all three wives as little more than ‘pots and pans’. He used them when he needed them, and when he didn’t need them they had no value for him.
One day, Nasim’s cousin came to visit unexpectedly. Nasim went to greet him. Abdullah’s eldest son by the first wife saw this and told Abdullah. That evening all hell was let loose for Nasim. Abdullah beat her so much that she couldn’t walk. 5 o'clock the next morning, Nasim got up to make tea for the family. When Abdullah had finished with his morning prayers, Nasim limped into the kitchen. She put wood in the stove and went to light it. Abdullah approached slowly, slowly from behind and hit Nasim over the head with the butt of his pistol. She gasped and looked at Abdullah with her innocent eyes. A tear trickled from the corner of her eye. She departed this world forever.
When Abdullah saw that Nasim wasn’t moving he shouted at her, but there was no reply. Abdullah was frightened and took her body to a place outside the village and threw it into a pit. He filled the hole with earth. A villager saw what happened and sent a message to Nasim’s parents, but what good did that do? It was too late. For Nasim it was better to have left this world so full of evil.
There was no one to help Nasim or any of the others in her situation. This is the story of the reality of Afghani women's bitter lives.
(Foto:FreeFoto.com)
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