Afghan girls set fire to themselves

[DMB]

...to escape unhappy forced marriages.

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/10/29/2112069.aspx

In the first seven months of this year, medical staff at the Herat’s burns unit – the only one of its kind in the entire country – said they have seen 51 cases of female self-immolation. Only 13 have survived.

The practice comes from Iran, where many Afghan refugees had fled to during the decade-long war with the Soviet Union (1979-1989) and the era of mujahedeen fighting that followed in the 1990s, said Jalali. But its popularity has spread among Afghan women, often from poor, uneducated backgrounds, where the tradition of child or forced marriages runs strong.

[sohy]

I've read about this before. It's so tragic.

[premjan]

What is Karzai going to do?

[Preno]

Well, it would be nice if he set fire to himself as a gesture of compassion.

[premjan]

Or if he swore to prosecute forced marriages.

[RED DAVE]

Remember, Karzai IS OUR GUY!

RED DAVE

[premjan]

Well, someone has to be. He is probably a little corrupt but he is not a thug.

[Matty]

wouldt it make more sense to set fire to the husband?

[Jobar]

wouldt it make more sense to set fire to the husband?

Now, *that* would be a useful meme to set loose amongst the militant Muslim world! Suicide as a means of protest, instead of terrorism...

[premjan]

I think one of the problems of the Sharia system is that it is very minimal. The males are in charge of the family so there is effectively no good recourse against their abuses. Some good sharia scholar has to come up with a way to address abuse within families. Muslims can scarcely imagine that such a category exists.

[Iblis waswas]

Thanks for posting that DMB. I've never actually heard about this. I cannot begin to imagine the despair that these women and girls must feel in order to set fire to themselves. It is incredibly sad that this goes on.