Parwana Malik, is a 9 year old girl from Afghanistan who has to play with her friends and go to school, but her life has a tragic daily life: her father sells her as a bride to a 55-year-old unknown man to provide food for his family who live in a small hut with earthen walls.
The man who wants to buy the 9-year-old says he is 55 years old, but for her he is “an old man” with white eyebrows and a thick white beard, as he reported to CNN on October 22. He is worried that he will hit her and force her to work in his own house.
Her parents claim they have no choice. For four years, her family lived in an Afghan refugee camp in the northwestern province of Badghis, surviving on humanitarian aid and work, earning a few dollars a day. But life has become more difficult since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan on August 15.
As the country’s economy collapses, it is unable to supply even basic necessities such as food. Her father already sold her 12-year-old sister several months ago.
Abdul Malik, Parwana’s father, cannot sleep at night. Before the sale, he told CNN he was devastated by guilt, shame and anxiety.
He tried to avoid selling it – he traveled to the capital of the province of Kala-e-Naou to look unsuccessfully for a job, even borrowing “a lot of money” from relatives and his wife surprised other residents of the camp for food.
“I have no choice but to feed my family”
But he felt that he had no choice if he wanted to feed his family. “We are eight members of the family,” he told CNN. “I have to sell it to keep other family members alive.”
The money from the sale of Parwana will only support the family for a few months, before Malik has to find another solution, he said.
Parwana said she hoped to change her parents’ mind, as her dream was to become a teacher and she did not want to drop out of school. But her pleas were in vain.
On October 24, the buyer, named Qorban, arrived at her home and handed over the amount of approximately $ 2,200, which corresponds to both cash and sheep and land.
“Please do not hit her”
Qorban did not describe the sale as marriage, saying he already had a wife who would take care of Parwana as if he were one of their children.
“She was cheap and her father was very poor and needed money,” she said. “She will work at my house. I will not hit her. I will treat her like a family member. I will be polite “.
Parwana hid her face and whined as her weeping father told Qorban: “This is your bride. Take care of her please, you are responsible for her now, please do not hit her “.
Qorban agreed, then grabbed Parwana’s arm and led her out the door. As they were leaving, her father was watching from the door, Parwana tried to escape, but to no avail. She was dragged to the waiting car, which was slowly removed.
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