A charity has rescued a nine year old girl, who had been sold by her father to an Afghan man aged 55 as a child-bride.
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 in the Taliban-ruled nation.
Parwana had wept every night prior to her sale and begged her dad to let her go to school instead in order to become a physician.
All 24 US senators condemned the horrific agreement, prompting President Joe Biden’s ire to act to end child marriages to Afghan children.
Too Young to Wed, a US charity, freed the little girl from her barbaric arrangements. Her siblings and mother were then moved to Herat to live in safety. It was their first real home since living in tents.
Charity rescued a nine-year old girl who had been sold by her father as child bride to Afghanistan by a man aged 55.
Qorban had to go into hiding due to backlash from his family.
Parwana’s father, who has been open about his criticisms and had to tell locals his story in an effort to salvage his image, has now admitted that he was subject to heavy criticism.
The nine-year-old was returned to her family two weeks after the sale but the £1,600 debt is still owed to Qorban.
CNN spoke with Stephanie Sinclair, the founder of the non-profit. She said that it was a temporary solution. The real goal is to prevent girls from being married.
Parwana, after her rescue said that she was really happy. They got rid of me and made my husband old.
Parwana’s mother Reza Gul claimed she tried to stop this sale, but her husband refused.
She responded, “Ofcourse, I was angry. I fought him and I wept. He claimed that he did not have an option.
Qorban, Parwana’s buyer (right), arrived at Parwana’s family home with the money to pay Abdul (left).
The charity will support the family and keep them warm in their safe place throughout the winter.
Although marriage is not allowed for those under 15 years of age is prohibited in all countries, it is practiced widely in some parts of the globe, especially in rural Afghanistan.
Families are driven to despair as the situation has gotten worse after August’s Taliban takeover.
Qorban Parwana, Parwana’s buyer stated at the time that it was his “second marriage” and promised to treat Parwana well.
Parwana, her family and their belongings had lived in an Afghan refugee camp in northwest Badghis for four years. They have survived on humanitarian aid and work which earns them around £2 a day.
However, since August’s Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Afghanistan’s economy has declined and international humanitarian assistance has been suspended. This is a devastating effect on families like Parwana who are unable to purchase basic items such as food.
Abdul sold Parwana’s sister, Parwana (12 years old), months back to support his family.
Parwana’s small, pale-pink face, peeking out of her hijab in pink, said to CNN that her father had sold her because she didn’t have flour, bread or rice. He sold me to an elderly man.
Parwana’s father (pictured below) admits he was subject to heavy criticism. He had to tell the locals his story in order to salvage his image.
Abdul her father said that his son was “broken” by guilt over the death of his daughter.
According to him, he tried unsuccessfully to find work. He borrowed money from his relatives and even begged for help from other camp residents. But nothing was working.
Abdul said that Parwana was his only option to ensure the survival of his family. For the sake of my other relatives, I had to sell.
Qorban, weeping Abdul said to Qorban during the handover: “This is your bride. Take care of her. Please take care of her.
Qorban accepted, grabbed Parwana by the arm and led Parwana towards the front door. Her father was watching.
Parwana tried to get to the door but was unsuccessful. She was then taken to her car and led to her new house.
Qorban insists he will look after Parwana, and says he has a wife.
‘[Parwana]CNN. He said that her mother was very low-income and her father was very impoverished and needed cash. “She will be living in my home. I won’t beat her. I’ll treat her as a friend. “I will be kind.”
Abdul stated that he does not have any control over his daughter’s future and reminded me: The old man said to me, “I’m paying” for the girl. You don’t have any control over what I do with her. That’s mine.
He said, “As far as I can see we don’t even have a future. Our future is destroyed.” If my financial position doesn’t improve, I’ll have to sell another child – likely the 2-year-old.
Another child being forced into marriage is Magul, a 10-year-old girl, who is being sold to a 70-year-old man to help pay off her family’s debts of 200,000 Afghanis (£1,600).
Magul cried as she tried to wipe away her tears. Magul said, “If they make us go, then I will die.” I do not want to go with my parents.
CNN is not naming the buyer. The purchaser took Magul’s father Ibrahim to Taliban-run jail and threatened to take him to prison if Magul didn’t pay back the money.
Ibrahim claimed he would repay the money in a month. But, he ran out of time.
He stated, “I don’t know what I should do.” Even if he doesn’t want my daughters, I’m sure he’ll take them.
Magul’s mom, Gul Afroz (Magul’s grandmother), said, ‘I pray to God these terrible days pass.
Magul (10 years old) spends her time crying while she waits for her day when she will be sold to an older man, 70 to assist her family with their debts.
Ghor is also selling nine members of a family that has their nine-year old and four-year old daughters. Their disabled father cannot work so they are selling them.
He told CNN he will sell the girls for 10,000 Afghanis (£800) each.
Zaiton, Zaiton’s four-year old daughter said that she understood why she had to be sold.
“Because we’re a poor family, we don’t have any food.”
Rokshana, the grandmother of the girls is upset and says that if there was food and someone who could help them, they would not do it. It is impossible for us to choose.
The country is in danger of economic collapse after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August.
As Afghanistan’s economy is on the verge of collapse, families are forced to sell their children in order to repay debts. Pictured: In Helmand, women and children wait to get healthcare
The country has experienced a collapse in its currency, even though it is short of hard notes. Meanwhile, prices for basic goods have skyrocketed due to scarcity, and the UN warned that food may run out soon.
It has led to the chief of the UN to warn that Afghanistan is facing a ‘make-or-break moment’ as he urgently appealed to countries to inject cash back into the Afghan economy, which before the Taliban takeover in August was dependent on international aid that accounted for 75% of state spending.
Afghanistan has a liquidity crisis, as its assets are frozen by the U.S.A. and other countries and payments from international organisations have been frozen.
The effects of the economic collapse could prove lethal for the country where a third of the population survives on less than £1.50 per day.
As a result, more families resort to illegal selling of their children below the age 15.
On September 21st, 2021, a girl in Kabul collects recyclable material and food from the garbage.
According to Mohammad Naiem Nazem of Badghis, a Human Rights activist, “The number selling children is growing day by day.” The families are forced to sell their children because they lack food and work.
Heather Barr (associate director, Women’s Rights division, Human Rights Watch) said, ‘It is absolutely cataclysmic. This emergency is not something we can stop in a matter of weeks or months. We’re already in an emergency.
Afghanistan’s girls are often absent from school, and the Taliban do not know when.
Barr said that as long as a girl attends school, her family invests in her future. Barr said that if a girl drops out of school, it is more likely she will marry off.
Once a girl is sold as a child bride, she is extremely unlikely to continue her education and many are forced to have unconsensual sex with their buyers.
Sens. Senators. Shelley Capito, Dianne Feinstein and Dianne Weinstein wrote that the ‘American withdrawal from Afghanistan places at risk hard-won benefits for Afghan women’.
Badghis Taliban leader Mawlawai Jalaludin said they were planning to distribute food to the families. MawlawaiJalaludin of the Taliban’s Justice Department said, “Once this plan is implemented, we will place their kids in prison if they sell their children,”
The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan affects more than 18 million people or 50% of the population. Many people are left with plastic bottles that they can recycle or sell in order to make enough money to buy food.
Antonio Guterres (UN Secretary-General) appealed to other countries for cash injections to the Afghan economy following the cessation of humanitarian aid.
Many experts are frustrated that the Taliban have not been impacted by international aid.
Isabelle Moussard Carlsen, head of office at UNOCHA, told CNN: ‘By not releasing the (development) funds that they are holding from the Taliban government, it’s the vulnerable, it’s the poor, it’s these young girls who are suffering.
Last month, a letter, led by Sens. Dianne Feinstein said that ‘American withdrawal from Afghanistan threatens hard-won Afghan gains’.
The Taliban regime has a history of isolating women and torturing them with violence and depriving them of their freedom and lives. According to the letter, Taliban leaders that promised women would receive good treatment under the new government have stopped fulfilling those promises.
Sen. John McCain and others note that many women now suffer from targeted beatings. Women are forbidden to leave home without the support of a male chaperone.
The Taliban have suspended the secondary schools for girls, despite the fact that 3.5million girls had been enrolled in Afghanistan’s school system last year.