KABUL, Afghanistan – The father-in-law of a young Afghan woman who said her nose and ears were sliced off to punish her for running away from her violent husband has been arrested, officials said Wednesday.

The woman, Aisha, gained worldwide attention when she appeared on the Aug. 9 cover of Time magazine.

Under orders from a Taliban commander acting as a judge, she was disfigured last year as punishment for fleeing her husband's home, according to Time's story in August and other accounts.

Just 18 years old at the time, Aisha said she ran away to escape her in-laws' beatings and abuse.

Gen. Juma Gul Himat, provincial police chief of Uruzgan province, said Aisha's father-in-law was arrested 12 days ago on charges of disfiguring Aisha and of being part of a Taliban network in the area, involved in several attacks against the police.

He identified the father-in-law as Mohammad Sulaiman and said he had confessed. The Interior Ministry confirmed the arrest.

Sulaiman was being held in jail in Uruzgan province.

Aisha was sent to Los Angeles over the summer for reconstructive surgery. In September, she was fitted with a temporary, prosthetic nose so she could visualize what she would look like and to help build her confidence.