If you remember, I have been following and posting about an Afghan couple - Zakia, 18, and Mohammad Ali, 21 who fell and love and just wanted to marry each other (the first "A True Romeo and Juliet Story" and the next "Lovers On The Run"). Today, I was searching for any latest news on the couple and came across a sad update: Mohammad Ali has been captured.
After the pair eloped in March, they had spent the subsequent months on the run. Sadly, Mohammad Ali was "captured by six of his male in-laws on a street in downtown in Kabul and dragged to a police station", where he was charged with kidnapping. In Afghanistan, kidnapping carries a death penalty (NY Times). The six men were Zakia's brothers and uncles who were tipped off about the general area where the couple had been hiding. Mohammad Ali refused to divulge where his wife was sheltered. She was only a few hundred yards away from where he was captured.
After his capture, Zakia met with her father-in-law who supports the couple's relationship and they tried to come up with a plan. They weighed a few options but finally decided that Zakia should go to a woman's shelter, which is not quite the safe haven that they are in other parts of the world. Zakia will be a virtual prisoner there, but at least she will not have to return to her family where many believe that her life would be in danger. There's the added issue that Zakia just might be pregnant. <sigh> Why can't they just leave this couple alone?!
Now this lovely couple has to wait, separated from each other, until the case comes to court for any resolution. I can only hope that somehow this will resolve itself so that there is no loss of life and the couple can live in peace with each other.
You can read the full NY Times article here.
4 comments:
What a sad story....and to be turned in by family - heartbreaking!
Right! I'm equally saddened and angered by this story. Sad for the couple and pissed off at the families!!
Zakia is with child.
The article says "she thinks she's pregnant" and the father-in-law said she was but she has not been to a doctor so I wrote that she might be.
Post a Comment