Afghan Woman and Her Two Kids Beheaded In Honor Killing

There has been a tremendous increase in domestic violence against women in Afghanistan recently, and rights activists claim much of that has to do with Hamid Karzai's pathetic interest in women's rights in the run up to the foreign troops withdrawal in 2014 and the government's attempt to negotiate with the anti-female Taliban.  As a result women (and children) are losing their heads, and no-one is doing a damn thing about it.

30-year-old Serata was beheaded (in an honor killing) by her ex-husband 38-year-old Mohammad Arif, and because her 8-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter witnessed the murder, he chopped off their heads too. He left their 2-year-old daughter unharmed.

Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has reported that 16 other "honor killings" occurred in March and April alone, of this Afghan year, as opposed to no more than 20 cases per year since 2001 when AIHRC began keeping records of this kind of violence. And that's just those that are reported.

According to commissioner Ms. Suraya Subhrang,

"And there are many that go unreported. Men make a quick decision in their own courts to kill a girl and hold a prayer for her the next day."

Serata was the victim of domestic violence for 10 years of her marriage and it was the reason she divorced her husband a year ago.  In the end he got her anyway, and as with most cases of honor killings in that region, Arif fled the area and police have yet to find him. Even if they do eventually find him, it's doubtful much - if anything- will be done, because of

 police carelessness, corruption and a growing atmosphere of impunity.

I'm not sure why anyone would find it surprising in a chauvinistic, male-centric religious society. And all the minor gains women have made over the past 10 years since the Taliban were ousted will be lost once the troops are withdrawn and the Taliban takes control either through violence or negotiations.

Source: ABC News Australia