400 women held in Afghan jails for 'moral crimes'

London: More than 400 women and teenage girls are currently languishing in jails across Afghanistan for “moral crimes”, a new research has claimed. The research by Human Rights Watch found female inmates are being held for “immorality”, including running away from home to escape beatings or forced marriage or violent husbands and parents in-law, The Daily Telegraph reported. [caption id=“attachment_258078” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The image has been used for representational purpose only. Reuters”]  [/caption] Virtually all teenage girls held in prison are accused of immorality, either extramarital sex or running away; In fact, in some cases, women had been charged with having extramarital sex after being raped or forced into prostitution, according to the research. Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said: “It is shocking that 10 years after the overthrow of the Taliban, women and girls are still imprisoned for running away from domestic violence or forced marriage. “No one should be locked up for fleeing a dangerous situation even if it’s at home. President (Hamid) Karzai and Afghanistan’s allies should act decisively to end this abusive and discriminatory practice.” PTI