[Tolo News] In the district of Sholgara of Balkh province, a man named Momen gave away his eight-year-old daughter Meena to wed a 12-year old boy because he could not support having his daughter live with him.Momen defends his actions by explaining that his living circumstances forced him to wed his daughter off in exchange for a bride price--110,000 AFS--that he will use to re-marry.
"I asked the opinions of the holy mans and shared with them the story of my miserable life," Momen explains in attempts to defend his actions. "I asked them if I should give away my daughter to a husband and they said yes, because you have a miserable life and you need money and then your life will improve. So I married her off."
Meena was five when she lost her mother. Not only was she too young to understand that she had lost her mother, but too young to understand why she lost her father's support and love.
The boy, who is now pronounced as Meena's husband, is named Sardar, a 12-year-old who, along with Meena, had no idea what marriage is let alone that the two have become one.
Confused of what was happening, Sardar was asked how he felt about the marriage and his response: "I just want to have a happy life."
Sardar's mother, whose name was not given, supports the marriage in defense claiming that the young girl was left on the streets.
"She was outside on the streets with no one to care for her, so I took her in for my son so she can live with us comfortably," Sardar's mother explained as she covered her face from the camera knowing what society thinks of child marriages.
The union of these children has left the residents of the district and women's rights activists stunned and appalled at the actions and explanations of the family and the holy man who performed the nuptial.
"Sharia law permits the girl who is a minor to be represented by her father and if her father agrees she can be married off," Mawlawi Qiyamuddin, holy man of the Hazrat Hamza Mosque in Sholgara, said.
Child marriages are, technically, against the law and the teachings of Islam and lawfully a sign of violence against the child.
Such incidents have occurred several times in Afghanistan and unfortunately numerous children have been sacrificed in the name of tradition and honor of the family. These unions tend to happen in far regions of the country that are unreachable, resulting in a number of unknown cases. Such traditions are far more practiced than the law of the nation.
Meena and Sardar are lost in their childhood fantasies not knowing and understanding what has just taken place. They must have believed they were playing dress-up with their family members as Meena was adorned with a red colored traditional afghan dress embellished with silver sequins and a black scarf embroidered with shiny silver beads that drowned her little body and Sardar in a glittery black suit jacket over a white tunic.
The two held hands as they walked out of the house together toward an unknown future and shattered childhood.