Rachael Smith | Politics Reporter
The story of Asiya, a Pakistani girl who poisoned over 10 people in an attempt to poison her arranged marriage husband, stormed the Internet last week. Asiya, only 17 years of age, was being forced into a marriage she did not consent to and took it upon herself to bring the situation to justice. In an attempt gone awry, multiple people were poisoned and suffered because of a tainted glass of milk, originally meant for her Paedophilic husband, was dumped into a much larger vat of milk that multiple people used.
Asiya confidently admitted to her role in the crime and also stated that she had obtained the poison from the possession of her boyfriend, who was also obviously upset at the injustice of this child marriage his girlfriend was being forced into. Undoubtedly it is wrong to poison 10 people, but this was Asiya’s mistake, not her intent. She never meant to hurt or harm bystanders, only eliminate the option of marrying into an illegal relationship, that she saw no other way of getting out of.
Pakistani is notoriously the country with the highest forced marriage rate, and it is young girls who suffer the most from this. Often, in third world countries girls are still openly viewed as unequal to men and are seen as property instead of people. In Africa, 1/3 girls, said they were married to a much older man by the age of fifteen and many then went on to fall pregnant against their will. Child marriage is an incredibly wrong and inhumane thing, but the knock on effects of it are equally negative as they often lead to rape, assault, female genitalia mutilation and high death rates in pregnancies – children simply cannot birth children without consequence. These girls need help and they need it now, and in Asiya’s case the only way she could help herself, was to kill. If anything, Asiya’s desperation deeply shows how much of a problem women’s rights still are in our world today and how much we still need to progress.
Charities,such as Save the Children, are working endlessly to try and stop these potentially amazing and wonderful girls, ending up in abusive and illegal marriages. To help girls like Asiya and others in her situation, there are a variety of petitions you can sign, charities you can get involved in or even donate to. These girls need help and we can provide it. For the sake of these girls and humanity please, please provide it.
