Poster girl of Taliban oppression unveils new nose

LONDON - The woman, who appeared on the cover of Time Magazine without her nose and accompanied by an article highlighting the plight of women in Afghanistan, has unveiled a new nose.

Aisha, 19, who became the poster girl of Taliban oppression in Afghanistan after being mutilated by her husband, prompted a worldwide outpouring of sympathy after her image appeared on the cover of the magazine.

She was given an Enduring Heart award, presented to her by Maria Shriver, wife of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, at a benefit for the Grossman Burn Foundation, which paid for her surgery, in Los Angeles

“This is the first Enduring Heart award given to a woman whose heart endures and who shows us all what it means to have love and to be the enduring heart,” the Telegraph quoted Shriver as saying.

Aisha’s plight had begun when she was only 12, when her father vowed to repay a debt by promising her in marriage to a Taliban fighter.

After she was handed over to the fighter’s family, she was abused and made to sleep in a stable with animals, and when she was caught trying to escape, her nose and ears were sliced off by her husband as punishment.

“When they cut off my nose and ears, I passed out. In the middle of the night it felt like there was cold water in my nose. I opened my eyes and I couldn’t even see because of all the blood,” she revealed to CNN.

She was then left for dead in the mountains, but she somehow managed to crawl to her grandfather’s house, and from there she was taken to an American medical facility.

After spending some time at a shelter in Kabul, she was flown to the US by the Grossman Burn Foundation in August and stayed with an American family.

Despite the ordeal she had gone through, Aisha, whose surname has never been disclosed, was grateful to have a new life and face.

“Thank you so much,” she said.

This month, she had a prosthetic nose fitted at the West Hills Hospital, and Dr Peter H Grossman said they hope to give Aisha a more “permanent solution”.

This might involve rebuilding her nose and ears using bone, tissue and cartilage from other parts of her body. (ANI)