Father-In-Law Of Disfigured Afghan Woman Arrested

The 19-year-old Afghan woman Aisha, who was disfigured when she tried to flee from her husband's abusive family, received reconstructive surgery at a hospital in California.

The father-in-law of a young Afghan woman whose face had been disfigured to punish her for running away from her husband has been arrested.

The woman, Aisha, gained worldwide attention when she appeared on the cover of Time magazine in August.

Just 18 at the time, Aisha said she ran away in 2009 to escape her in-laws beatings and abuse. She said that after she was caught, her nose and ears were cut off as punishment under orders from a Taliban commander.

Police said Aisha's father-in-law was arrested in recent weeks in Uruzgan province.

It was not immediately clear whether he had been formally charged.

Aisha was sent over the summer to the United States for reconstructive surgery.

The Taliban have denied any involvement in her mutilation, saying it was a case of "family violence."

compiled from agency reports