The local man, who has only been indentified as Mumtaz, shaved off his 17-year-old wife's hair and then cut off her nose and ears. He continued beating the woman until her legs and arms were broken.
"We bitterly condemn this act of sadism and regard it as trampling on our rights," a local women's rights activist said.
The woman, who is Mumtaz's second wife, is currently in intensive care.
"He killed his first wife," a local official said.
'Honor' killings, the murder of a female family member by her relatives for her actual or perceived 'dishonorable' behavior, such as adultery, refusal to engage in an arranged marriage, demanding a divorce, flirting, being kidnapped or raped, remain common in Afghanistan.
The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission said that about 200 girls were killed by their relatives in 2006 in apparent honor killings.
