To me, my husband was my son’s murderer. He was also my daughter’s molester. A parasite nibbling on the Holy Book, he was Lucifer, holding me by the throat and driving me to sin every...

I found an inner strength to fight for myself. It was clear that nobody else would.

My mind became a sanctuary for secret thoughts of escaping from this household.

There will be a great imbalance in our strengths if we fight, because I am prepared to die and you are desperate to live.

Looking back, I realized that we were being raised to be schizophrenic; an appearance of perfection was more important than genuine feelings

I obeyed, but my crime was that I did not look obedient.

…my mind was consumed with the idea of purdah. From behind it no call for help could be heard. An abandoned species was trapped in a forbidden world. Everything corrupt happened under the shroud, when...