Kabul: A 23-year-old Afghan woman has described how her husband tied her up and cut off both her ears in a domestic violence attack in the northern province of Balkh. The woman, Zarina, is now in a stable but traumatised condition in hospital. “I haven’t committed any sin,” she said. “I don’t know why my husband did this to me.”

The woman’s husband is on the run in Kashinda district following the attack, police have told local media. Zarina told Pajhwok news that the unprovoked attack took place after her husband suddenly woke her up. She said that she got married at the age of 13 and that “relations with her husband were not good”. In another interview, Zarina complained that her husband had tried to prevent her from seeing her parents. She said that she no longer wanted to remain married to him. “He is a very suspicious man and often accused me of talking to strange men when I went to visit my parents,” she said. She has demanded his arrest and prosecution.