Afghan man sells 9-year-old daughter to 55-year-old man to keep his family alive

KABUL: In a heart-wrenching incident, nine-year-old Parwana Malik’s family sold her to 55-year-old Qorban last month, reported CNN.

Living in a camp for internally displaced people in the warn-torn country's Badghis province, Parwana’s family of eight could barely make ends meet with jobs hard to come by and foreign aid drying up since the Taliban takeover.

In an interview to CNN, Parwana’s father Abdul Malik revealed he had already sold his 12-year-old daughter a couple of months ago. Now, he was forced to sell off another daughter “to keep other family members alive”, a decision that’s left him "broken" with guilt, shame and worry.

On her part, Parwana said she wanted to study and become a teacher. But her family’s dire financial circumstances have closed this door for her. Asked about her upcoming “marriage”, she fears that the “old man” would beat her and force her to work in his house.

Two days later, the buyer Qorban arrived at the Malik family’s home, paid 200,000 Afghanis (about $2,200) in the form of sheep, land and cash to Parwana's father, and drove off with the girl.

Source: IndiaToday