‘What I’m doing with her, that’s my business’
An Afghan father has been forced to sell his nine-year-old daughter to a 55-year-old man so he can afford to buy food for his family.
In the wake of the Taliban taking over Afghanistan in August, humanitarian aid to the internally displaced has all but “dried up”, resulting in desperate decisions.
Father Abdul Malik pleaded for his child’s new husband to not beat her. Parwana Malik, nine, described her new husband as an “old man” due to his white beard and eyebrows, reports CNN.
“This is your bride. Please take care of her. You are responsible now, please don’t beat her,” the father told his daughter’s new husband.
The girl whimpers as the man takes her, having purchased her for what equates to £1,468.
The young girl’s family insist they had no choice, having exhausted every other way of feeding their family.
The elderly man, known only as Qorban, insisted that he only wanted Parwana as a child and said he already has a wife.
“[Parwana] was cheap, and her father was very poor and he needs money,” he told CNN. “She will be working in my home. I won’t beat her. I will treat her like a family member. I will be kind.”
The girl’s father continues to worry for his daughter, telling CNN: “The old man told me, ‘I’m paying for the girl. It’s none of your business what I’m doing with her, that’s my business’.”
He continued: “As I can see, we don’t have a future – our future is destroyed. I will have to sell another daughter if my financial situation doesn’t improve – probably the two-year-old.”
Sadly, they are one of the many families forced to make heartbreaking decisions in their fight for survival.
Humanitarian workers are reporting an increase in child marriages due to the poor economic state of the country.
Another child being forced into marriage is Magul, a 10-year-old girl who is being sold to a 70-year-old man.
She said: “‘I really don’t want him.
“If they make me go, I will kill myself. I don’t want to leave my parents.”
Mohammad Naiem Nazem, a human rights activist in Badghis told CNN, “Day by day, the numbers are increasing of families selling their children. Lack of food, lack of work, the families feel they have to do this.”
Heather Barr, associate director of the women’s rights division at Human Rights Watch, told CNN that the situation is “cataclysmic” and continued to say that: “We don’t have months or weeks to stem this emergency. We are in the emergency already.”
Related links:
- All-female cabin crew dismissed by new Taliban bosses in Afghanistan
- Marcus Rashford calls for government to axe universal credit cut
- Taliban hides female students behind curtain as Afghan universities return
