Elopement cases on decline in Takhar

TALOQAN (PAN’s affairs officials on Sunday said elopement incidents involving teenage girls had declined in northern Takhar province.

Women’s Affairs Director Razam Ara Hawash told Pajhwok Afghan News they had registered 30 cases of elopement last year, compared with 20 so far this year.

She said 15 of the 20 cases had been resolved with the consent of the families involved. In the remaining five cases, the girls were convicted and sent to shelter houses.

Hawash cited domestic violence as the main reason behind elopement, saying that awareness workshops and seminars had been helpful in controlling incidents of the kind.

She insisted core issues forcing girls into fleeing had to be addressed and their contest sought before arranging their marriage.

Nasrin, a teenage girl who fled to Takhar from Ghor province a year back, said she had left home after her lover Najib told her over the cell phone to do so.

But Najib, who had been in contact with Nasrin, did not turn up to meet her in Takhar. “I have not yet seen Najib, who wanted to marry me. He invited me to come to Takhar.” Nasrin currently lives in a shelter house.

The director said cases of violence against women had also decreased this year, when 187 incidents were recorded, compared with 300 last year. A victim, who did not give her name, said her husband tried to kill her by setting her on fire.

As many as 4,500 incidents of violence against women have reportedly taken place across the country this year, compared with 3,000 the previous year. These cases include murder, rape and elopement.

nh/ma/mud

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