(Photo : Photo by HOSHANG HASHIMI/AFP via Getty Images)
Internally displaced children gather near their makeshift campsite during a free medical camp at Shahr-e-Naw Park in Kabul on september 11, 2021.
A 9-year-old girl from Badghis, Afghanistan, is just one of the many underage children being sold to elderly men in exchange for a few thousand dollars.
According to CNN, Parwana Malik is just like any other young girl that likes to play and spend time with her friends. But even at a young age, she already knows her harrowing fate.
Young girl breaks down as she's sold to an elderly man
A journalist for the publication visited Malik and her family just hours before a 55-year-old man picked her up from her makeshift home in an Afghan displacement camp in northwestern Badghis province.
Malik broke down in tears as she was being dragged out of the home that she shared with her parents and siblings in the last four years.
The publication revealed that there is an increasing number of child brides in Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in August. This takeover resulted in fewer jobs for parents, as well as very low income for those who are employed.
Since their salaries are not enough to sustain their huge families, Malik's parents, like many other parents at the displacement camp, have resorted to selling their children for $2,200.
Parwana Malik's 'husband' promised to take care of her
Some parents fear that their children will be beaten by the elderly men whom they sold their children to. But Qorban promised Malik's parents that he will take care of the young girl. He also said that he and his wife will treat Malik like their own children.
However, it is unclear if Qorban would live up to his promise. After all, several other children that are sold to elderly men end up physically abused. And statistics have revealed that children as young as 12 years old become pregnant even when their bodies are not yet fully developed.
Unfortunately, parents of young children do not have any other choice but to sell them in exchange for money or goods. Malik's dad, who agreed to be shown on camera, said that child brides are also common in Afghanistan and there's nothing they can do about it.
Afghans are struggling amid Taliban takeover
Heather Barr, associate director of the women's rights division at Human Rights Watch, called the situation cataclysmic. She also said that there became an increase in child brides after young girls were banned from going to school.
If girls are able to go to school, their families will be invested in their future. As a result, they won't be sold to elderly men.
But local Taliban leaders in Badghis also vowed to provide families with food supply to prevent them from selling their kids.
Mawlawai Jalaluddin, a spokesperson for the Taliban's Justice Department, said that parents who will continue to sell their kids even after receiving supplies will be jailed.
Last month, ABC News revealed that U.S. officials are looking into reports claiming that older men were admitted together with young girls at evacuation camps.
The publication said that the US has strict policies against human trafficking and offenders could be prosecuted or sanctioned.
Last week, the South China Morning Post reported that the price for a child bride could range between $3,350 and $2,800. Some payments are also done in installment over several years.
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