Attempted Murder from an "Honor Attack"

     In a woman’s shelter in Kabul, Afghanistan resides a 17-year-old girl from Pakistan named Gul Meena who shouldn’t be alive.  This young girls life of misery and suffrage started at the age of 12. Instead of attending school Gul was married off to a man who was 60, old enough to be her grandfather. Gul, like any other 12 year old, did not want this arranged marriage and complained about it to her family.  She told her family about the beatings that her husband would give her on a regular basis.  Gul was surprised at the response she got from her family, as they would hit her when she complained. They told her she belonged in her husband’s house and this was her life now.  After five years of abuse, Gul met a young Afghan man and finally left her husband in Pakistan. Even though she knew it was against strict Islamic customs, she flew to Afghanistan with her new love. Just days later her brother tracked them down and armed with an ax he hacked to death Gul’s friend and then struck her 15 times, cutting open her face and various parts of her body.

     Crimes against women and girls are not an unusual occurrence in Afghanistan and various parts of the Middle East. Crimes such as the one acted on Gul are called ‘honor killings’ because disobeying Islamic customs is essentially seen to them as a purpose for harsh punishment. Gul Meena is one of thousands of women living in shelters across Afghanistan. Many of these women are victims of attempted honor killings. Luckily Gul was given the proper medical attention she needed, which was covered financially by donations given from various doctors. She was also taken in by an organization that will give her the love and care she needs. She has no one to go back to. Her family thinks she is dead and if she was to go back to her home, she will most likely be killed. Gul doesn’t think about the future. She wishes she had died the day of the attack because she is so ashamed. She’s tried to kill herself several times since arriving at the shelter but is stopped by the workers. It’s horrible to think that such crimes exist in the world, and especially against your own family! It shouldn’t matter who someone marries. No one should be forced to marry someone old enough to be their grandfather and almost killed because they had the guts to flee. Hopefully she will find more purpose and feel the love given by her caregivers as she has been given a new chance at life.

Source:  http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/04/world/asia/afghanistan-honor-killing-survivor/index.html?hpt=wo_t5