The police are still searching for her husband, Ghulam Sakhi, 30, a soldier in the Afghan National Army who served in Helmand Province, the Interior Ministry said. He had fled, officials said.

President Hamid Karzai spoke out about the girl’s plight in a statement on Sunday, saying that the case had to be pursued and that the people responsible should be arrested. The swift official response may show a new willingness to help the plight of young women in this poor country, but it also highlights the suffering that officials say is still common.

Her mistreatment began after she was married six months ago, when she was 14. The girl, from Badakhshan Province, and her husband did not know each other well, Ms. Zarifi said.

When her new in-laws tried to force her into prostitution, she refused, and they locked her in a downstairs bathroom in their home in Dahiney Ghuri in Pul-i-Kumri, the capital of Baghlan Province, Interior Ministry and provincial officials said. They would not let her call her family, and denied her food. They also beat her with a rod, officials said.