Afghan officials say a 15-year-old girl brutally tortured for months by her in-laws will be sent to India for medical treatment.

The Interior Ministry said Monday that Sahar Gul's mother-in-law and sister-in-law have been arrested and police are seeking her husband and father-in-law.

President Hamid Karzai ordered the ministry to investigate the case, saying whoever used violence against Gul will be punished.

Gul was beaten, starved, burned and had her fingernails pulled out in an attempt to force her into prostitution. She has been married seven months.

She was freed from a basement at her husband's home in northeastern Baghlan province last week after her uncle called the local police.

Despite progress since the fall of the Taliban 10 years ago, women's rights in Afghanistan remain problematic in a country with a strict patriarchal culture.

Under Taliban rule, girls' schools were banned and women could only leave the house accompanied by a male family member.