Afghanistan teen brides who set themselves on fire to avoid forced marrages

From Agence France-Presse

Herat, Afghanistan — Flayed by a fire she began herself,  Aatifa’s childlike frame is painstakingly wrapped in thick bandages — her  shrieks of “Allah” echoing around the hospital ward where surgeons prepare to  graft skin back on to her skeletal torso.

Her wide blue eyes alternating between flashes of anger and  wells of tears, the 16-year-old Afghan girl struggles to explain what led her to  douse her own body in petrol, step outside and light a match.

Married at the age of 14, the young carpet-weaver, who has nine  brothers and sisters, said her mother-in-law criticised her housework and  encouraged her mechanic husband to beat her for allowing her mother to visit too  often.

Warning very graphic photo gallery here