A bride killed herself after all the pain and humiliation her husband subjected her to when he threatened to get another wife after he rejected the results of virginity tests he forced her to take.
Rajabbi Khurshed, 18, killed herself 40 days after her arranged marriage with Zafar Pirov in the village of Charbogh, Tajikistan. Khurshed took her own life by drinking a lethal dose of vinegar.
Pirov demanded that his wife take two further virginity tests, aside from the government-mandated exam of the same in Tajikistan. But Pirov refused to believe the results of his wife’s exams. He then requested to take a second wife.
Khurshed’s family said she had been put through tremendous pressure from her husband and that “she could not take it any longer.” Her mother, Fazila Mirzoeva, said that her daughter became a victim of “slander and violence.” She insisted that her daughter has never had a boyfriend and has never had sex with anyone.The family of the victim also said that Khurshed passed all the tests including the government mandatory one.
Pirov has been charged with driving his wife to commit suicide. If proven guilty, he could face up to eight years in prison. He defended himself, however, by claiming that his wife has given him a written statement that she’s allowing him to get a second wife “because she wasn’t a virgin when we got married.”
Mrs. Mirzoeva has also appealed to the country’s president, Emomali Rahmon, for help.
Virginity tests before marriage for women are common in Tajikistan and casual sex is considered socially unacceptable.
Since 2015, the government has made it mandatory for both men and women to undergo medical check-ups in an apparent bid to block relatives from marrying. For the women, such tests include a test of ‘purity.’
There have also been close to 600 virginity disputes cases that reached the courts in Tajikistan since 2014.
Source:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/arranged-marriage-bride-18-kills-10794753
