Just 15 years old, Sahar Gul has become the bruised and bloodied face of women’s rights in Afghanistan. The teenage bride’s eyes were swollen nearly shut as she was wheeled into the hospital seven months after her arranged marriage. Black scabs crusted her fingertips where her nails used to be. According to officials in northeastern Baghlan province, Gul’s in-laws kept her in a basement for six months, ripped her fingernails out, tortured her with hot irons, and broke her fingers — all in an attempt to force her into prostitution. Police freed her after her uncle called authorities. The horrific images, captured by television news cameras in January, transfixed Afghanistan, and set off a storm of condemnation.

President Hamid Karzai set up a Commission to investigate, and his health minister visited her bedside. Police arrested her in-laws, who denied abusing her.
A warrant was issued for her husband, who serves in the Afghan army.