The tragedy of “child marriage” in Afghanistan reappears! A 6-year-old girl was forced to marry a 45-year-old man. The Taliban intervened: wait until she is 9 years old
Recently, a shocking child marriage tragedy occurred in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. A 6-year-old girl was “married/sold” by her father to a 45-year-old man who already had two wives in exchange for money. The exposure of the incident caused an uproar around the world. Even the Taliban authorities, who despise women’s human rights, intervened and prohibited the man from taking the girl home to marry immediately. However, the girl’s future has not changed much, because the Taliban moral officer told the man that he could take her home to marry when the girl was 9 years old.
According to Afghan media “Amu.tv”, the incident occurred in Marjah District, Helmand Province (Helmand). A wedding held on June 27 this year caused a frenzy and condemnation on the Internet because of the leaked photos of the groom and the bride. It is understood that the groom is 45 years old and already has two wives. He paid money in exchange for the consent of the girl’s father and took the initiative to organize the wedding at his home in the Marjah area.
Originally, the girl was supposed to be taken home by her husband after the wedding day, but the Taliban moral officials intervened in the wedding and demanded that the marriage be terminated and that her husband take her home to complete the marriage when the girl turned 9. The report also pointed out that under pressure from public opinion, the local police briefly detained the man and the girl’s father, but ultimately did not bring any charges against them.
The report also pointed out that since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in 2021, the problem of child marriage and early marriage has deteriorated sharply. The United Nations Women’s Agency (UN Women) report pointed out that because the Taliban banned girls from receiving education and employment, poor families in Afghanistan regarded girls as an economic burden and took the initiative to exchange money for marriage in order to survive. Today, the rate of child marriage in Afghanistan has increased by 25%, while the rate of teenage pregnancy has increased by 45%.
In addition, in the past, Afghanistan’s civil law set the minimum marriage age for women at 16 years old, but this law was abolished after the Taliban came to power. Today, Afghanistan does not have a statutory minimum marriage age. Women’s marriages are mostly based on the Hanafi school of Islamic law, which allows girls to marry “when puberty arrives.” However, there is no consensus on the specific age, and it is entirely up to the local authorities to interpret it freely.
