The New York-based group Human Rights Watch got involved saying in a statement that "the brutal murder of a vulnerable woman by a mob on Kabul's streets" calls for the punishment of police officers who took no action to stop the killing, reported by AP.
Subsequently 13 police were suspended at the same time the suspects in the attack were arrested. Although in Afghanistan this kind of violence is unconstitutional, the guarantees of equality for women are not respected, and they are treated as inferior and violence against them goes unpunished. It is the responsibility of the new Afghan President Ghani to change the dynamic and send a message that heinous acts against women will not be tolerated and perpetrators will be caught and punished. Ghani put women’s rights and equality at the forefront of his presidential campaign last year and has given his wife, Rula, a prominent public profile. A Christian of Lebanese descent, she has spoken for women’s rights in Afghanistan-- a country named often by international rights groups as one of the world’s worst places to be a woman. Revenge killing by mullah Farkhunda's parents believe the killing was instigated by a local mullah of the Shah-e-Do Shamshera Mosque in Kabul, who became angry because Farkhunda had accused him of distributing false tawiz. Tawiz are pieces of paper containing verses of the Quran which can be worn as pendants or attached to clothing to ward off evil and bring good luck. TOLOnews reported that "in order to save his job and life," the mullah reportedly began shouting accusations that Farkhunda had burned the Quran, they said. If a mullah wields the power to order the death of another human being by merely making a public statement, the government must instill restrictions and consequences for death threats. In the three articles read in the preparation of this story, none of them reported an arrest of the mullah at the Shah-e-Do Shamshera Mosque. Arrests of perpetrators and police were conducted, but there was no mention of the mullah being arrested for his participation in initiating the attack. Because the mullah was the primary instigator in the killing of Farkhunda, he must be held responsible. Resources http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/23/asia/afghanistan-woman-killed/index.html http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/22/afghan-woman-beaten-to-death-kabul-mob-buried
8 Comments
eileen
24/3/2015 06:13:59 am
Thank you for reporting this harrowing story Dava.
Reply
Dava Castillo
24/3/2015 09:14:33 am
Thank you reading and commenting Eileen.
Reply
eileen
24/3/2015 10:22:01 am
They do Dava. I cannot imagine what it is like for the people who live in Afghanistan. And for women and children...
Reply
B. McPherson
24/3/2015 03:57:05 pm
Of note was that women carried her coffin for burial as a protest. Women in that culture are normally forbidden to attend funerals. I heard an Afghani woman once say that to kill a woman is of no more consequence than killing a bird. Women's rights need to be constantly defended. Thanks for the report. Horrible crime.
Reply
eileen
25/3/2015 03:57:45 am
When I worked with a woman from Wales a few years back she told me traditionally the women did not attend a funeral only the men. When her Mum died she and the other women stayed home
Reply
Dava Castillo
25/3/2015 11:35:32 am
Thanks for reading and commenting Barbara.
Reply
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Dava Castillo
is retired and lives in Clearlake, California. She has three grown
children and one grandson and a Bachelor’s degree in Health Services
Administration from St. Mary’s College in Moraga California. On the
home front Dava enjoys time with her family, reading, gardening, cooking
and sewing. Archives
November 2015
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