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| Sahar Gul seared Afghanistan's conscience but her tormentors are free | Sahar Gul seared Afghanistan's conscience but her tormentors are free |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| When a teenage Sahar Gul was found chained in a dank basement at her in-laws, so starved she could not walk, missing fingernails and covered with burns from electric wires, Afghanistan was appalled. | When a teenage Sahar Gul was found chained in a dank basement at her in-laws, so starved she could not walk, missing fingernails and covered with burns from electric wires, Afghanistan was appalled. |
| The case was described as one of almost unprecedented horror and officials promised her tormentors would be pursued through the justice system as an example to others. Neither statement turned out to be entirely true. | The case was described as one of almost unprecedented horror and officials promised her tormentors would be pursued through the justice system as an example to others. Neither statement turned out to be entirely true. |
| Gul revealed this week that another young girl had been married into the same family before her, and endured months of similar abuse before escaping. | |
| And the much lauded prosecution of the family who bought her as a bride, aged only 12, and then nearly killed her, has ended less than a year later with their release. An appellate court ruled there was not enough evidence to support their sentences, even though Gul was not told of the new hearing or given a chance to submit her case. | |
| "I feel more angry than sad," she said. | "I feel more angry than sad," she said. |
| Her lawyer has launched an appeal and Gul still hopes to get justice for endless months of almost unimaginable sadism. "I do not feel good that they are out of jail," she said quietly, glancing at the empty corners of the room. | Her lawyer has launched an appeal and Gul still hopes to get justice for endless months of almost unimaginable sadism. "I do not feel good that they are out of jail," she said quietly, glancing at the empty corners of the room. |
| The torture began shortly after her brother sold her to the family for an underage wedding, when she baulked at the family's effort to force her into prostitution. Her new husband did not participate in the abuse, but nor did he try to stop his father, mother and sister. | The torture began shortly after her brother sold her to the family for an underage wedding, when she baulked at the family's effort to force her into prostitution. Her new husband did not participate in the abuse, but nor did he try to stop his father, mother and sister. |
| By the end of her ordeal she was so weak she had to be rescued from her makeshift prison in a wheelbarrow. Pictures of her battered body shocked the country and its corrupt, cumbersome judicial system into action, and the trio were convicted. Gul began to put her life back together. | By the end of her ordeal she was so weak she had to be rescued from her makeshift prison in a wheelbarrow. Pictures of her battered body shocked the country and its corrupt, cumbersome judicial system into action, and the trio were convicted. Gul began to put her life back together. |
| "She's doing well and is going to school," said Manizha Naderi, director of Women for Afghan Women. "She has a lot of plans for her future and she says wants to be head of a women's rights organisation." | "She's doing well and is going to school," said Manizha Naderi, director of Women for Afghan Women. "She has a lot of plans for her future and she says wants to be head of a women's rights organisation." |
| The unexpected release of her in-laws has terrified the young girl and could jeopardise her recovery. "She is afraid now, she is scared for her life," Naderi warned. "The sister-in-law when she saw her in court said: 'We didn't kill you then, but when I get out, I will kill you.'" | |
| US lawyer Kimberley Motley joined Gul's legal team after her tormentors' release, and is determined to put the trio back in jail, either through appeals or a fresh prosecution on charges not pressed at the original trial including false imprisonment and underage marriage. But she said Gul's case is part of a worrying trend of rising assault cases and inertia or indifference on the part of authorities supposed to defend women. | US lawyer Kimberley Motley joined Gul's legal team after her tormentors' release, and is determined to put the trio back in jail, either through appeals or a fresh prosecution on charges not pressed at the original trial including false imprisonment and underage marriage. But she said Gul's case is part of a worrying trend of rising assault cases and inertia or indifference on the part of authorities supposed to defend women. |
| "I'm seeing more and more cases of women victims of … severe violence," she said. "Things are going downhill really fast for the protection of Afghan women." | "I'm seeing more and more cases of women victims of … severe violence," she said. "Things are going downhill really fast for the protection of Afghan women." |
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