Daughters of Char Chinar

Book excerpt: In a land where beauty is a curse, Nafisa and Meher, identical twins of spellbinding beauty, are hidden away from the gaze of men by their slain mother’s relatives. Their powerful father Kazi had abandoned them at birth. Poor and unguarded, the sisters build a secret world of their own, educating themselves and even finding like-minded suitors in a land where love is forbidden... But when the need arises, their father returns to reclaim them. He has killed a man. The Jirga Council demands a virgin to atone for his crime. Kazi abducts Nafisa and gives her to the wronged tribe as compensation. Their leader wrenches off her burqa, loosening a torrent of red-gold hair. How unusual! His followers are aroused beyond bearing. Nafisa quakes with terror. They can hardly wait for her ritual ‘punishment’ to commence... Will Nafisa succumb to their brutal attack? Or will she live on to fight alongside her sister Meher, for the upliftment of the daughters of Char Chinar? Daughters of Char Chinar is a bitter-sweet tale of redemption based on the harrowing justice systems that still prevail in parts of South Asia. Here, rape is a punishment and not a crime.