Ghazni govt slammed for delay in deciding women’s cases

GHAZNI CITY (Pajhwok): Rights activists on Wednesday complained the judicial organs and other relevant authorities had been sluggish in addressing cases of violence against women in southern Ghazni province.

They said incidents of violence against the gender had increased in Ghazni this solar year that ends March 21. Former provincial council member and women’s rights activist, Hamidi Gulistani, told Pajhwok Afghan News violence against women had recently surged.

“The judiciary is paying no attention to women’s cases and that is why women avoid referring their cases to courts,” she said. Gulistani asked the government to appoint female judges to hear women’s cases.

A civil society activist, Rahilla Sajjadi, also said women suffered hardships in referring their cases to government organs.

“You know more than a hundred cases of violence against women are registered every year, but these cases have never been addressed or the perpetrators brought to justice,” she said.

She said more violence against women took place in remote areas than cities and the government should pay attention to the issue.

A victim of domestic violence, Bibi Marwa, a resident of the Andar district, said her life was like hell in her in-laws home.

She alleged her in-laws daily beat her under various pretexts since she was given into marriage to a Ghazni City resident by her parents in return for a handsome mahr.

On her parents advise, she approached the Women’s Affairs Department to get her problem resolved.

Mahr is a mandatory payment, in the form of money or possession, paid by the groom’s family to the bride’s family at the time of their engagement.

A tribal elder in Andar, Haji Noorullah, confirmed families in the district fixed really high amounts of Mahr that later resulted in spoiling relations between couples.

Noorullah asked the government to extend public awareness programmes to the people of Andar to avoid post-marriage problems originating from high payments of Mahr.

Women’s Affairs Director Fauzia Kakar confirmed violence against women increased in Ghazni this year.

“We have registered 75 cases of violence against women this year, but it doesn’t mean we are not dealing with the cases, we try to address such cases in-time,” she said.

mds/ma

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