Hindi Stories and Novels

Laila finds Mullah Faizullah's
son, Hamza, who takes her to the
kolba where Mariam was raised.

He gives her a box that Jalil gave to
Mullah Faizullah, instructing him to
give it to Mariam if she were ever to
return to Herat.

In the box is a videotape of a movie Mariam had begged Jalil to take her to see, along a handwritten
letter from Jalil addressed to
Mariam.

Knowing the authorities will execute
them for murder, Laila quickly
decides that they must flee with
Tariq back to Pakistan.

Mariam
refuses to go and instead waits to
face her judgment, in turn buying
Laila and Tariq time for their
escape.

Laila tearfully says goodbye
before leaving Mariam for good.

Mariam is publicly executed at a
stadium in Kabul, and in her final
moments she asks God for
forgiveness.

In the summer of 2001,
after returning home from a visit to the orphanage,
Laila is shocked to see Tariq waiting outside her home.
Laila realizes the story she had been told by Abdul Sharif was a lie.

Laila a teenager becomes Rasheed's second wife .
After her parents are killed and her lover, Tariq, is presumed dead.
Laila marries to protect not only herself but also her unborn child.
As they endure Rasheed's abuse and the oppressive rule of the Taliban, Mariam and Laila forge a strong friendship.

Rasheed forces Laila—who is pregnant with Tariq's child—into marrying him as his second wife.
Initially, Mariam and Laila are hostile rivals.
Over time, through shared suffering and Laila's daughter, Aziza, they forge an unbreakable mother-daughter and sisterly bond.
The women attempt a failed escape from Rasheed's tyranny and face brutal punishments.