The family of a 14-year-old girl, who was recently raped by two men in northern Balkh province, has come forward and appealed to government to ensure justice is served and that those responsible are sent to prison.

The family of the girl has visited the Court of the Elimination of Violence Against Women in Mazar-e-Sharif city and asked them to address the case.

"We have been oppressed. We have come here to the court to seek justice. We want justice," said the girl's grandmother.

The family lives in the Sholgara district.

The grandmother said her granddaughter is a seventh grade student and was raped by two men about 20 days ago.

The girl's father told TOLOnews that he was not at home when two alleged suspects, Zabih and Basir, kidnapped his daughter at around 10pm at night and then raped her.

He said the act was unforgivable, and that: "We came here to seek justice. They did an un-Islamic act with my daughter."

He added: "The two perpetrators are married. They have families. They have committed such a bad act."

He said the girl was raped 20 days back but officials have not addressed the case because one of the suspects is allegedly the cousin of Sholgara district's criminal manager.

According to him, officials tried to hide the incident.

The victim herself has also called for justice to be served. "They took me to the desert at night. They must be punished."

Meanwhile, the head of the women's court in Mazar-e-Sharif, Fawzia Hamidi told TOLOnews that 16 cases of violence against women have been registered so far this year. She said most of the alleged perpetrators are local powerful figures.

"Most of the cases are committed by local powerful figures or the local commanders. They are still armed. They interfere in such issues as they have power and the people dare not raise their voices against them. They [the locals] accept any kind of pressure from such individuals," Hamidi said.

Balk police meanwhile said they have arrested two suspects in connection with the rape.

"We have arrested two individuals in connection with the case," Balkh police chief Sayed Kamal Sadat told TOLOnews.

There are however concerns that such incidents will be repeated if rapists go unpunished.