Afghan Man Reportedly Sells 9-year-old Daughter To ¡®Keep Family Alive¡¯

The humanitarian crisis engulfing Afghanistan, desperate families say they're being forced to sell their young daughters in order to survive, reports CNN. The proscribed practice has reared its ugly head in many parts of the country -- that of selling young girls into marriage.

In recent months, many displaced Afghan families battling poverty and hunger have been forced to make the unpalatable choice of marrying off their barely adolescent daughters in exchange for money and sustenance that would ensure their survival.

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9-year-old Parwana

One such heart-wrenching story is of nine-year-old Parwana Malik, whose family sold her to 55-year-old Qorban last month, reported CNN.

Living in a camp for internally displaced people in the warn-torn country's Badghis province, Parwana¡¯s family of eight could barely make ends meet with jobs hard to come by and foreign aid drying up since the Taliban takeover.

For four years, her family have lived in an Afghan displacement camp in northwestern Badghis province, surviving on humanitarian aid and menial work earning a few dollars a day. But life has only gotten harder since August 15.

The family is now unable to afford basic necessities like food. Her father already sold her 12-year-old sister several months ago. Parwana is one of many young Afghan girls sold into marriage as the country¡¯s humanitarian crisis deepens.

AFP

Starvation force family to take dire step

Hunger, too, has pushed some families to make heartbreaking decisions, especially as the brutal winter approaches.

Parwana said she wanted to study and become a teacher. But her family¡¯s dire financial circumstances have closed this door for her. Asked about her upcoming ¡°marriage¡±, she fears that the ¡°old man¡± would beat her and force her to work in his house.

Two days after the deal, the buyer Qorban arrived at the Malik family¡¯s home, paid 2,00,000 Afghanis (about $2,200) in the form of sheep, land and cash to Parwana's father, and drove off with the girl.

Reuters

Abdul Malik, Parwana¡¯s father, can¡¯t sleep at night. Ahead of the sale, he told CNN he¡¯s ¡°broken¡± with guilt, shame and worry. He had tried to avoid selling her ¡ª he traveled to the provincial capital city Qala-e-Naw to search unsuccessfully for work, even borrowing ¡°lots of money¡± from relatives, and his wife resorted to begging other camp residents for food.

But her parents say they have no choice.

10-year-old Magul

In neighbouring Ghor province, 10-year-old Magul is distraught at the prospect of being married off to a 70-year-old creditor her family owes money to. "I don't want to leave my parents. If they make me go, I will kill myself," an inconsolable Magul told CNN.

AP

Like Parwana and Magul, the future of scores of Afghan girls is shrouded in uncertainty. With the Taliban barring women from secondary education and poverty on the rise, more and more girls are being pushed into the marriage market.

"As long as a girl is in school, her family is invested in her future," said Heather Barr, from Human Rights Watch. "As soon as a girl falls out of education, then suddenly it becomes much more likely that she's going to be married off."