2 Arrested in Brutal Attack of Afgan 15 year old

Afrik Update

World News
Afghanistan

By Masoud Popalzai

Kabul, Afghanistan -- Police in northeastern Kunduz province have arrested two men suspected of the near-decapitation of a 15-year-old girl after the rejection of a marriage proposal, according to a district chief.

One of the alleged suspects had proposed to the girl, Gaiseena, through her family last year, but she had rejected him, said Amanuddin Quraishi, chief of Imam Sahib district.

The two men allegedly attacked and killed her on Monday about a hundred meters from her house, while she was bringing water for her family, he said.

Quraishi, the top person at the local level, could not confirm whether the suspects were relatives.

Kunduz is the same province where four Afghan Local Police (ALP) officers this month were sentenced -- two of them for 16 years -- for raping a woman.

The Interior Ministry controls ALP, a separate entity from the Afghan National Police that critics liken to an unchecked armed militia.

In that case, the 18-year-old's mother said rape had brought shame upon the family and that without government help, her daughter should be killed.