TORTURED AFGHAN GIRL TO GO TO INDIA FOR TREATMENT

15-YEAR-OLD TORTURED AFGHAN GIRL
SENT TO INDIA FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT

Kabul (AP) - A 15-year-old Afghan girl severely tortured for months by her in-laws in an attempt to force her into prostitution will be sent to India for medical treatment. Sahar Gul’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law were arrested and her husband was being sought, an Afghan official said Tuesday.  The case has shocked Afghanistan, though rights activists say serious abuses against women and girls in the conservative society are common. President Hamid Karzai has said that whoever used violence against Gul will be punished.  According to officials in north-eastern Baghlan province, the in-laws kept Gul in a basement for six months, ripped her fingernails out, tortured her with hot irons and broke her fingers. Police freed her last week from a basement at her husband’s home last week after her uncle called the local police.

“Her nails were pulled out, she has injuries in all parts of her body, there are signs of burning on her body, she was suffering from different kinds of injuries,” spokesman for the provincial police chief said.  Her mother-in-law and other members of the family were reportedly involved in what he described as “criminal activities,” which he said included selling alcohol and prostitution.  
According to reports, “they tried to force her into prostitution and she did not agree. This was one of the reasons that they detained her in the basement for six months,” the spokesman said. The public health and women's affairs ministers visited Gul at the hospital.  Women's rights in Afghanistan remain a problem area in a country with a strict patriarchal culture.

A 15-year-old Afghan girl, Sahar Gul, was brutally tortured by her husband’s family. She was burned with cigarettes and had chunks of her flesh cut out with pliers in an attempt to force her into prostitution.  Running away from an abusive husband or a forced marriage are considered ‘moral crimes,’ for which women are now imprisoned in Afghanistan.  This is one of the worst cases of violence against Afghan women.  All women are mothers, ill-treatment to women is great disrespect to Lakshmi Devi.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Goddess Lakshmi is the consort and shakti, or potency, of Lord Vishnu. Lakshmi, or Sri when she is especially known as the goddess of beauty (though sometimes considered to be separate entities), is the Goddess of fortune, wealth, power, and loveliness. Wealth means not only money, but also the higher values and qualities of life. The power of the mind and intellect is also a must if one wants to be truly wealthy, which includes spiritual wealth. ... As the spouse of Lord Vishnu, she appears whenever He does in each of His appearances, such as Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, or Krishna. In each of these appearances, she appeared as Padma or Kamala, Dharani, Sita, and Rukmini respectively. They are inseparable.

Dr Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Lakshmi, The Goddess of Fortune”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/lakshmi_goddess_of_fortune.htm