Row over Afghan wife-starving law
An Afghan bill allowing a husband to starve his wife if she refuses to have sex has been published in the official gazette and become law.The original bill caused outrage earlier this year, forcing Afghan President Hamid Karzai to withdraw it.
But critics say the amended version of the law remains highly repressive.
They accuse Mr Karzai of selling out Afghan women for the sake of conservative Shia support at next week’s presidential election.
The law governs family life for Afghanistan’s Shia minority.
Sexual demands
The original version obliged Shia women to have sex with their husbands every four days at a minimum, and it effectively condoned rape by removing the need for consent to sex within marriage.
The original bill caused outrage within Afghanistan and around the world
Western leaders and Afghan women’s groups were united in condemning an apparent reversal of key freedoms won by women after the fall of the Taliban.
Now an amended version  of the same bill has passed quietly into law with the apparent approval of President Karzai.
