India, Sept. 5 -- Centuries-old customs that have kept women behind in Afghanistan also made sure they are the last to be rescued or not rescued at all after the deadly earthquake and massive aftershocks reduced scores of buildings to rubble and have killed at least 2,200 people.

In the absence of many women rescuers, the women who have managed to survive but are trapped under rubble are either not being pulled out while the dead are being pulled out by their clothes because of prohibitions on men touching them.

Rescue efforts have been stumbling upon not only over rubble but also over gender rules in Afghanistan which is governed by the Taliban - known for imposing stringent restrictions on women - since four years.

"They gathered us ...