In a region of Afghanistan where cyberculture and mobile phones have been permanently banned, two women were brutally murdered outside the family’s home. No one made an effort to come to their aid or report the incident to local police.
News stories about women and children being attacked and killed are published in a variety of global media outlets on a nearly daily basis. November 11, 2011 was no exception. At about 3:30 am, in Ghazni City, located within the larger Ghazni Province of eastern Afghanistan, where girls are not allowed to attend school and residents have no Facebook or Twitter pages, a widow and her daughter were viciously stoned and then shot to death. What was their crime?
According to BBC News Asia, the pair was accused of “moral deviation and adultery.” Their identities are presently nowhere to be found on the Internet. Incredibly, the assault occurred approximately less than a quarter of a mile from the neighborhood police station and an Administrative Governor’s office.
Details are sparse
Bilal Sarwary, a Kabul-based journalist for the BBC and one in merely a handful of reporters who even knew about the story wrote, “Security officials said armed men entered the house where the young widow lived with her daughter and took them out to the yard, where they were initially stoned and then shot dead.”
There is no cell phone footage of the confrontation or any still photographs and the names of the next of kin were not provided; however, police officials confirmed that Taliban gunmen have been arrested for the crime. The vicinity where the perpetrators carried out the murders is not an isolated area. So why weren’t police called to investigate when this initially occurred?
One person told sources, “He heard the shots but was afraid to come out.”
Officials were quoted as saying, “Neighbours did not help or inform the authorities on time.”
Female populace at risk without Internet
Unlike Egypt, Libya or Iran, women in Afghanistan have not been affected by the Twitter Revolution or any local cyberculture to speak of. Political and religious forces that make up the many ethnic groups inside the war-torn region have kept contemporary communication to a minimum. Last year, when another woman was stoned to death in Ghazni, little was mentioned about the barbaric deed.
Despite collective improvements, Afghanistan’s women are worried about what will happen when the United States finally exits their country, likely giving the Taliban free reign over most of the nation’s provinces.
The BBC’s Bilal Sarwary, in an analysis that accompanied his piece about the November 11th stoning, provided a bit of insight into the plight of Afghanistan’s women:
“Joint weddings have been banned – the bride and groom are not allowed to be together as it is thought the woman makes too much noise walking to the wedding hall, disturbing the men.”
During times of crisis, more often than not, it is the nature of humanity to lend a helping hand. There is no doubt about the lack of human rights currently afforded the women in Afghanistan. Perhaps if a significant online presence existed, the voices of advocates could be heard around the world.
Knowledge and awareness usually translates into personal or social empowerment; without the exponential communication clout of the Internet, preservation of Afghanistan’s women may be unworkable.