Afghan girl commits suicide in Islamabad

Islamabad: A 24-year-old Afghan girl, Mariam Sadat, living in Islamabad, succumbed to severe depression and ended her life by leaping from the fifth floor of a building.

Mariam Sadat was not the sole victim of depression; rather, every second Afghan woman is grappling with similar psychological pressures.

Speaking about her own ordeal, I too have been a victim of this condition. When I visited a doctor here in Islamabad, he asked me with a smile, "These symptoms seem like a sign of love or affection-related illness. Are you suffering from the same ailment as well?"

To this, I replied, "Yes, I am afflicted with love, but for a homeland that the Taliban have now seized. The same Taliban who claim to be Pashtuns, yet are not Pashtun; they are slaves and a slave cannot be a Pashtun."

These words were from Kandahar's Nazo (a fictional name).

Nazo, an advocate by profession, was revered in her home country, Afghanistan, for championing women's rights.

She collaborated with media and human rights organizations to work for the Afghan populace. However, the change of regime in her nation forced many, including Nazo, to abandon their homeland.

As the mother of three children, Nazo now struggles in Pakistan, living a financially challenging life.