The father-in-law of Bibi Aisha, an Afghan child bride who was brutally disfigured for running away, has been arrested in connection with that crime. Sadly, that fact is more unusual than her treatment.
Aisha had been married to a Taliban fighter, a marriage arranged since birth. When she ran away and was caught, her father-in-law held a gun to her head while his sons sliced off her nose. Later, the father-in-law, Sulaiman, paraded the nose around the village.
Aisha’s cause was taken up by Women For Afghan Women, and then by Time magazine, which put her on the cover to make an argument about what leaving Afghanistan would do for women. She’s now living in Brooklyn undergoing counseling before getting reconstructive surgery.
Arrest Made in Afghan Disfigurement Case [NYT]
Earlier: A Visual Introduction To An Afghan Woman’s Mutilation
Mutilated Time Cover Star Getting Reconstructive Surgery