No son?
29-year-old Sher Mohammed tied the knot with 22-year-old Storay about four years back and they have since had three girls. The youngest one was born just three months ago.
Khanabad district police chief Sufi Habib revealed that Mohammed wasn’t happy that his wife could not give him a son. He said: “Finally on Saturday, the man, with the help of his mother, first beat the woman and then strangled her to death.”
Mohammed’s mother, Wali Hazrata, was arrested and sent to Kunduz city jail. However, Mohammed was able to escape. During an interview in the prison Wali Hazrata claimed: “My son did not commit the crime… But after three daughters, Storay herself felt guilty and committed suicide.”
Deteriorating women’s rights
This is not an isolated incident, unfortunately. A London-based Afghan researcher for the rights group Amnesty International, Horia Mosadiq said: “Generally the human rights situation, and particularly women’s rights, is deteriorating. I am in constant contact with women’s rights groups across the country, and they say they are seeing an increase in violence.” She added: “We need to make sure that we protect the women — it’s so important that women’s rights in Afghanistan are non-negotiable.”
Violence within the family
The involvement of the mother-in-law in the above murder case is not uncommon. In fact, women do “often play a role in violence against other women within the family”—along with spouses, dads and siblings.
Women’s appreciation
Reading about cases like this makes us realise how lucky we are to live free and lead the lifestyle that we want to. Here’s to cherishing our mothers, daughters and all women in general. Remember, in just two days we celebrate International Women’s Day. In case you are clueless, here’s what Wikipedia says about the celebration:
“International Women’s Day is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women’s economic, political and social achievements…
In other regions, however, the original political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.”