I was nervous. I had been waiting for this day for some time and it had arrived. But, somehow, its arrival was not comforting. I am not normally nervous on meeting important people, but, on this day, I was meeting the most important man in the world. He held my future in his hands. I was meeting with the father of the woman I wanted to marry and would ask him for his blessing (it’s what we do down South). As I was still in college, I really had nothing to offer except potential (I hoped he would think). Now that I have a daughter, I can begin to understand what he must’ve thought. Deep down, no one is ever really good enough for a father’s daughter. Intuitively, I knew this then. Fortunately, he was able to settle; something a father here was unable to do.
Apparently, the custom here does not require the suitor to receive the blessing of the father, or perhaps it was ignored in this case. In any case, two young people in love decided that a life together was what they desired most. Like a young Romeo and Juliet, these two lovers were also from different tribes. Thus, they eloped, were married, and returned with a fait accompli. The father, however, was unwilling to accept the matter. He called the local police and filed a complaint alleging adultery.
Adultery being a serious crime here, the police sprung into action, arresting the couple. It was at this point that a deal was proposed; whether by the police or the prosecutor I am unsure. In any event, each of the accused was told that the charges could be dropped for a payment of 50 thousand Afghanis (a little more than $1000). However, this amount was much more than either could pay, so the case was bound over to the court.
During the preparation of the charges, the court determined that her age must be ascertained prior to any hearing on the charge of adultery. The young lady was then sent to a local hospital wherein a test akin to a rape kit was administered to determine her age. The specifics of this test are unknown as, to my knowledge, western medicine has no test wherein exact age is determined by examination of the vagina. In any event, the age was set at 19. This determination meant that the girl would receive a much harsher sentence, something the father had not accounted for. Thus, he paid a small sum to have the test done again and his daughter was again subjected to this “medical” humiliation and had her age determined at 16.
Having now “scientifically” determined the girl’s age, the court turned to the matter of adultery. The question before the court was whether the couple was legally married or not. Now even my non-lawyer friends, having received tutelage in law from shows such as Law and Order, realize that in order for a conviction, the prosecutor bears the burden of proving the lack of a marriage. Not so here. The court immediately ordered the couple to prove their marriage. They complied by showing the equivalent of a marriage license from a religious figure in a neighboring province. This was deemed insufficient and the couple was ordered to produce the man who performed the marriage. As is often the case here, the couple did not have a defense attorney to procure the testimony of the one who performed the marriage. Thus, the couple was convicted. My understanding is that the man’s family was able to raise enough money to secure his release. The girl received a sentence of 18 months and remains in jail as you read this.
After nearly ten years and billions of dollars, this is the face of Afghan justice. So I ask you, are we winning?
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