A father from Afghanistan was forced to sell his nine year-old daughter to a 55 year-old man to buy food. He pleaded with his child’s new husband to not beat her.
Parwana Malik (age nine) is being sold by her family to a stranger, who the youngster describes due to his white eyebrows and beard as an ‘old gentleman’.
According to CNN, Abdul Malik, Parwana’s grieving father, pleaded with Qorban for his child not to be hurt on the day she was taken from her 55-year old buyer.
Abdul, who is ‘broken with guilt’, broke down as he said to Qorban: “This is your bride. Please take care of her. You are now responsible, please don’t beat your daughter.
Parwana’s family claimed they had no other choice and are among the privileged few who have it. Numerous families in poverty are forced to sell their daughters into marriage to survive as Afghanistan plunges into a humanitarian crisis.
One 10-year-old girl is prone to crying, waiting for the day when she is sold to a 70 -year-old man to help pay her family’s debts.
Another family of nine members is planning to sell their four-year old and nine-year old daughters in order to have enough money to buy food.
Parwana Malik, nine-year-old (pictured), is being sold by her family to a stranger. Due to his white hair and eyebrows, the youngster describes him a ‘old guy’
Parwana and her family live in an Afghan displacement camp in northwestern Badghis for the past four-years. They have survived on humanitarian aid and work which earns them around £2 a day.
Since August’s Taliban overthrow, Afghanistan’s economy is at risk and international humanitarian assistance has been halted. This has a profound impact on families like Parwana’s, who are unable to purchase basic goods such food.
Abdul had to sell Parwana’s 12-year old sister months before to make his family able to survive.
Parwana, her small, pale pink-colored face peeking out of her pale pink hijab, stated to CNN that her father sold her because they don’t have flour, bread, or rice. He sold me to an older man.
Abdul, her father, said that he was ‘broken’ by guilt over the sale of his daughter. He is unable to go to sleep at night.
He told the news outlet that he had tried unsuccessfully to find work and borrowed money from his relatives. His wife even begged other camp residents to feed him, but nothing worked.
Abdul, who felt he couldn’t help but sell Parwana in order to support his family, stated: ‘We have eight family members. I must sell to keep my other family members alive.
Qorban, Parwana’s buyer (right), arrived at the family home last week with the payment to give her father Abdul (left).
He said that while Parwana is being sold for 200,000 Afghanis (£1,600) in the form of cash, sheep and land, it will only sustain his family for a few months before they must find another way to raise funds to survive.
Parwana hoped to change her parents’ minds because she didn’t want her family to leave her or her education. She wanted to be a teacher when her time comes.
Qorban, a single-named buyer, arrived at their home last week and paid the bill.
Parwana, with her small frame covered in black head coverings and a floral garland around it, hid her face and protected her from her family.
Qorban was weeping when Abdul said to him: “This is your bride.” Please take care of her. You are now responsible for her, please don’t beat her.
Qorban accepted, grabbed Parwana’s hand and led Parwana towards the door, her father watching.
Parwana struggled to get to the door. However, her efforts were futile and she was taken to her new home and a car.
Parwana, her petite frame covered in a black headcover and a floral garland around the neck, kept her face hidden from her family members and new husband. She fears that he will beat her and force Parwana to work.
Qorban said he would take care of Parwana as his child, but he did not mention that he had a wife.
‘[Parwana]CNN. He said that her father was very poor and she was very cheap. “She will be working at my home. I won’t beat her. I will treat her as a family member. I will be kind.
Abdul stated that he does not have any control over the future of his daughter. He recalled that an old man had said to him, “I’m paying” for the girl. It’s not your business what I do with her, that’s mine.
He said, “As I can see we don’t even have a future. Our future is destroyed.” If my financial situation does not improve, I will have the need to sell another daughter, probably the two-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 said, “I really don’t want to be with him,” as she wiped her tears away. ‘If they make us go, I will kill ourselves. I don’t wish to leave my parents.
CNN has not named the buyer. He took Magul’s father, Ibrahim to Taliban-run jail and threatened to send Magul to prison if he doesn’t repay the money.
Ibrahim, who claimed he would pay the money in a month, is now out of time.
He said, “I don’t know what to do.” He will take my daughters even if I don’t give them.
Magul’s mother Gul Afroz said that Magul’s bad days would pass.
Magul, aged 10, is a pathetic little girl who waits to be sold to a 70 year-old man to pay off her debts.
Another nine-member Ghor family is selling their four and nine year-old daughters, as their disabled father is no longer able to work.
He told CNN he will sell the girls for 10,000 Afghanis (£800) each.
Zaiton, Zaiton’s four-year old daughter, said she understood why she had to be sold.
“Because we are poor and don’t have enough food to eat.”
Rokshana, the grandmother to the girls, is distraught. She said that if she had food and someone to help her, she would never do such a thing. We have no other choice.
The country’s economy is at risk of collapse after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August.
As Afghanistan’s economy is on the verge of collapse, families are being forced to sell their children in order to pay off debts. Pictured: In Helmand province, women and their children wait to get healthcare.
The country has seen its currency value plummet despite having limited hard currency supplies. Meanwhile, basic goods prices have soared because of shortages. The UN warned that food prices could rise soon.
It has led to the chief of the UN this week 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 is facing a liquidity crisis because assets in the U.S. are still frozen and international disbursements have been halted.
The country that has a third of its population living on less than $2 per daily could be ravaged by the economic collapse.
It has led to an increasing number families resorting to the illegal practice selling their children below the age of 15.
A girl collects food scraps and recyclable materials from the garbage bin near Kabul’s airport on September 21, 2021
According to Mohammad Naiem Nazem (a Badghis-based human rights activist), “Day by day, the number of families selling their children is increasing.” The families feel they must do this because of lack of food and work.
Heather Barr, associate director of Human Rights Watch’s women’s rights division, said that the crisis is “absolutely cataclysmic.” “We don’t have the time or resources to stop this emergency for months or even weeks.” We are already in the emergency.
Many Afghan girls are absent from school, and the Taliban have not yet said when they might return.
Barr stated that ‘As long a girl is in school her family is invested into her future.’ Barr stated that once a girl is out of school, it’s more likely she will marry.
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.
Badghis Taliban leaders claimed they will distribute food to families. Mawlawai Jaaludin, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s Justice Department, stated that ‘Once this plan is implemented, if they continue selling their children, we will put them into jail.
However, the humanitarian crisis is affecting Afghanistan in a wide range of ways. It affects at least 18 millions people, or half of Afghanistan’s population. Many people are left with plastic bottles to either recycle or sell to make enough money to buy food.
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, appealed to other countries to inject cash into Afghanistan’s economy following the cessation of humanitarian aid.
Experts are becoming increasingly frustrated that the Taliban are not being affected 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.