'This is your bride...please don't beat her': Heart-breaking moment Afghan father pleads with 55-year-old man as he is forced to sell his daughter, aged NINE, to him so he can buy food
The Daily Mail ^ | 2 November 2021 | Rachel Bunyan
Posted on 11/2/2021, 1:55:39 PM by Tired of Taxes
An Afghan father who has been forced to sell his nine-year-old daughter to a 55-year-old man as a child bride so he can buy food has pleaded for his child's new husband not to beat her.
Parwana Malik, nine, is being sold by her parents to a stranger who the youngster describes as an 'old man' due to his white beard and eyebrows.
On the day Parwana was taken away by her 55-year-old buyer, Qorban, her weeping father, Abdul Malik, pleaded for him to not hurt his child, reports CNN.
Abdul, who is 'broken' with guilt, broke down in tears as he told Qorban: 'This is your bride. Please take care of her. You are responsible now, please don't beat her.'
Parwana's family said they had no choice, and are among scores of destitute families who being forced to sell their young daughters into marriage to survive, as Afghanistan plunges further into a humanitarian crisis.
One girl, aged 10, spends her days crying as she waits for the day she is sold to a 70-year-old man to help her family pay off their debts.
Another nine-member family is preparing to sell their four-year-old and nine-year-old daughters to have enough money for food.
Parwana and her family have been living in an Afghan displacement camp in northwestern Badghis province for the past four years. They have survived on humanitarian aid and work which earns them around Ł2 a day.
But since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August, the country's economy is on the brink of collapse and international humanitarian aid has been put on hold - and the effects are deeply felt by families such as Parwana's who cannot buy basic goods such as food.
Abdul was forced to sell Parwana's 12-year-old sister months ago to help his family survive.
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