Man in his 40s marries girl, 6, in a shocking display of lust

AFGHANISTAN: A horrible story unfolded when a six-year-old girl was allegedly forced to marry a 45-year-old man in Afghanistan after she was given away for money. News reports say the marriage has even horrified the Taliban, which is in power in Afghanistan, but do not get your hopes up for the salvation of the poor little girl.

Instead of helping the girl reject the marriage, the Taliban did another terrible thing: They gave the man the chance to wait until the girl turned 9 for him to be able to take her home,

The story became viral after foreign media got hold of a haunting photo of an older man and a little girl standing together.

Daily Mail says Amu.tv reported that the youngster had allegedly been exchanged by her father for money to a man who already has two wives.

The man was to marry the girl last Friday, but the Taliban in Helmand intervened and arrested two men, the bride and the girl's father. However, the Taliban did not bring any charges against them but instead forced the bride to wait for 3 years. That is when he can consume the marriage, apparently.

Some reports say it is deep economic crises and systemic poverty that are forcing many destitute families to marry off their daughters to receive a "bride price" or reduce financial burdens.

Informal estimates indicate that nearly half of all Afghan girls are married by age 18 and around 19% before age 15.

UN Women reported that there has been a 25% rise in child marriages in Afghanistan after the Taliban banned girls' education in 2021. The report was released last year, and it says there has been a 45% increase in childbearing across the country.

In 2021, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement that she is deeply concerned about the rise of child marriages.

“I am deeply concerned by reports that child marriage in Afghanistan is on the rise. We have received credible reports of families offering daughters as young as 20 days old up for future marriage in return for a dowry. Even before the latest political instability, UNICEF’s partners registered 183 child marriages and 10 cases of selling of children over 2018 and 2019 in Herat and Baghdis provinces alone. The children were between 6 months and 17 years of age," she said.

In 2021, a nine-year-old girl was sold by her father to a 55-year-old man as a child bride. She was rescued by a charity.

Parwana Malik was sold for the equivalent of £1,600 in land, sheep and cash to a stranger named Qorban so her father Abdul Malik could pay for food, says the Daily Mail.