Alleged rapist mutilated in Afghanistan

Kabul, April 30 (IANS/EFE) Taking justice into their own hands, the family of a 12-year-old rape victim severed the ears and the nose of the alleged rapist in the northern province of Baghlan in Afghanistan, the police told EFE Wednesday.

The alleged rapist is also the cousin of the victim.

The incident happened Monday in the Joi Khush area near the provincial capital, police spokesman Javed Bashar said.

Bashar added that the family has confessed to the crime after being arrested by the police.

According to the source, the alleged rapist has been hospitalised and his condition is said to be stable, while police is now investigating the veracity of the rape charges pressed against him.

The doctor Tuesday confirmed that signs of rape were seen on the body of the 12-year-old girl.

According to the family, the incident happened three months ago when the girl's cousin, after sedating her, took her away from the house and later raped her.

To avenge the rape, the family hatched the plan of inviting him over for dinner only to tie him down and sever his nose and ears. According to a UN report released in December, only 7 percent of the nearly 17,000 cases of violence against women recorded last year in 16 of the 34 provinces in Afghanistan were resolved within the court system.

According to the UN, the police and the prosecution resolve most of the reported cases of crime against women in a "casual" way, which makes women more vulnerable.

Despite the social progress that involved the fall of the Taliban in 2011, women's rights in Afghanistan are still systematically violated and analysts believe their situation will worsen with the departure of the Allied troops in December.

--IANS/EFE

ab/bg