I was hopeful that democracy in our country would heal my pains. But things got worse when many of those warlords became Parliament members or received high positions in government.

The family had decided to kill us. They not only wanted to kill us, but stone us to death to teach women and girls a lesson.

My mother said, “You can continue your studies after your marriage. However, you will not need to because this man is very rich. Everything you require is available for you in his home, so stop arguing. This is our final decision. You have to marry him.”

They had been stopped three times in the past by cars full of Taliban, and there was the chance it would happen again. Everyone was scared and cautious. The woman with me in the back seat was mumbling some words of the Qur’an. I didn’t know what was going on.