In a shameful incident that sheds light on the scourge of child marriages in the war-battered Afghanistan, a six-year-old girl was forced to marry a 55-year-old man after her father allegedly sold her in exchange for a goat.
According to a Daily Mail report, both the man’ Seyed Abdolkarim, and the father of the girl, identified as Gharibgol, have been arrested, following a complaint by a concerned relative who informed about the issue.
The girl’s father, who also received rice, tea, cooking oil and sugar, along with a goat, told the police that he was incapable of feeding his family and by selling his daughter he had one less mouth to feed.
He also told that his daughter’s husband had promised him that he will not have sex with her until she turned 18.
After the wedding, Abdolkarim took the girl to a relative’s house in Firozkoh in Ghor province.
He told his relative that the girl was his daughter. However, the concerned relative informed the police after he found Abdolkarim undressing the six-year-old girl at night.
While Abdolkarim has been arrested, Gharibgol is reportedly staying with her mother.
Meanwhile, the women’s rights bureau in Ghor province has said that it will pursue a divorce and ensure that the father is stripped of his parental rights.
