The parents of a girl cut off the nose and ears of a cleric to avenge the alleged sexual abuse of their daughter in northern Afghanistan, officials say.
Police say the 12-year-old girl's parents invited Sayed Ahmad, 30, for dinner this week.
"They tied his arms and legs and cut his nose and ears off with a knife," policeman Javid Basharat said.
Police arrested the couple and the cleric, who is also the 12-year-old girl's cousin.
"The couple immediately confessed they cut his nose and ears off in retaliation for the abuse," Basharat told dpa.
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The cleric admitted he had abused the girl three months ago using anaesthesia, the spokesman said.
"She did not know what her cousin was doing with her," said Khadijah Yaqeen, chief of women's affairs department for Baghlan province.
"After the abuse, she told her parents and they decided to take the revenge."
