” My father sold me because we did not have bread, rice and flour. “She sold me to a big man, ” she told CNN. “A few months earlier, her 12-year-old sister had been sold as a bride.”
At a time when Afghanistan ‘s economy is booming, with poverty rising dramatically and the tide of migration rising, the news that a father sold his nine-year-old daughter as a bride to a 55-year-old is disgusting and is making the rounds of the world. . Paruana Malik ‘s smile and innocence faded forever, the game with her friends ended violently, her vivid brown eyes are now surrendered to sadness. Fear and pain have overshadowed everything, while in the face of the nine-year-old the pain is reflected.
The girl’s words, on October 22, on CNN , betrayed the terror of the little girl who revealed that she was afraid of the 55-year-old, while as she said, she lives every day with the nightmare of abuse . ” My father sold me because we did not have bread, rice and flour. “He sold me to a big man, ” said the little one with great sorrow.
At the same time, there are many families in Afghanistan who are suffering from financial hardship , unable to provide even basic necessities such as food.
” This is your bride, please do not hit her ,” the 9-year-old’s father told the groom as he handed over his defenseless daughter to the 55-year-old for $ 2,200 with tears in his eyes , an amount he told CNN. help the family meet their needs for a few months.
The little Afghan woman was sold to 55-year-old Korbak by Abdul’s father on October 24 , while as her father revealed, a few months ago he had“Marry” Paruana’s 12-year-old sister .
Hunger is pushing many families in Afghanistan to sell their underage daughters for little money, especially now that winter is approaching and needs are growing. The family of the 9-year-old bride has been living in a camp in Badghis, northwestern Afghanistan, for four years. ” We are eight members of the family. “I had to sell her so that the others could live ,” the ” bride ” ‘s father told CNN excitedly, saying that he could not sleep at night because of remorse.
As for the 9-year-old , until the last moment she begged her parents to change her mind, she wanted to continue school and become a teacher, but after the simple wedding ceremony in the poor hut of the family, the 55-year-old grabbed her by the hand and pushed her towards his car … However, he told CNN that he already has a husband, he did not describe the purchase of the 9-year-old as a wedding and claimed that he would take care of her as his child.
Acute food insecurity for half the population in Afghanistan
Since the Taliban came to power on August 15, stories like that of 9-year-old Paruana have grown. Although marriage to children under the age of 15 is banned in the country , child brides have always been a common occurrence in poor rural areas.
” Day by day the number of families selling their children is increasing“Mohammad Naeem Nazem, a human rights activist in Badghis, told CNN. “Because of the lack of food and work, families feel that this is what they have to do, ” he added.
Half of Afghanistan’s population faces acute food insecurity , according to a recent UN study, and more than three million children under the age of five will face acute malnutrition in the coming months. Meanwhile, commodity prices are rising, banks have no cash and workers are not being paid.
