Horror as girl, 13, forced to marry 41-year-old man

A 13-year-old girl from Afghanistan has tragically attempted suicide for the third time due to the prospect of a forced marriage, leaving her mother distraught and helpless.

Mahrukh*, originally from Faizabad in northeastern Afghanistan, once had dreams of becoming a judge but now her only hope is to remain in school and avoid a dreaded marriage to a man more than three times her age.

After her heartbreaking attempts on her own life, Mahrukh's father, Raziq*, remains determined to marry his youngest daughter off to a 41-year-old man.

This man, who is involved in the gold mining industry, is said to be a wealthy friend of Raziq's and is reportedly willing to pay any dowry demanded in exchange for the child bride, who is said to look even younger than her years.

Unmoved by his daughter's despair, Raziq, who has already married off his four other daughters at a young age, has chillingly declared, "If you die, your dead body will belong to that man", reports the Mirror.

In an interview with Rukshana, a publication aiming to amplify the voices of Afghan women, Mahrukh's mother, Amina*, revealed that her husband announced their child was to be married off during dinner back in June 2024.

Amina remembered: "Raziq suddenly announced at the dinner table, 'I've given Mahrukh to Qader*. May God bless her marriage.' I was stunned. I said, 'This is impossible. She's still a child."

She continued: "He told me, 'Don't speak, you foolish woman. She's grown up, let her go to her fate. It's better for her to marry sooner rather than later. She'll be a wife and belong to a man. The sooner, the better, and with more dignity'."

Raziq, 55, is reportedly an extremely devout, traditional man who has rejected any possibility of his daughters attending school.

Despite Amina's attempts to persuade him to reconsider his decision regarding Mahrukh, his position remains unchanged, and she now worries the teenager may attempt to take her own life again before the ceremony.

Describing the emotional anguish she has experienced since bringing Mahrukh home from Faizabad Hospital, Badakhshan, Amina revealed: "Since the day we brought Mahrukh back from the hospital, I haven't felt well. My head hurts so much that I think it might explode. At every moment, my blood pressure drops, and I feel weak. My daughter is burning in agony, and there's nothing I can do to help her."

This comes after shocking reports from Afghanistan's Marjah district, where a 45-year-old man has wed a six-year-old girl.

The appalling ceremony was so disturbing that even the Taliban intervened, instructing the groom to delay taking her home until the child reaches her ninth birthday.

Since the Taliban's return to power in 2021, Afghanistan has seen a dramatic increase in child marriages, with women's freedoms being severely curtailed, from mandatory full-body coverings to travel restrictions without a male relative.

According to a United Nations (UN) report released last year, this systematic oppression has led to a worrying 25 per cent increase in child and forced marriages.

Afghanistan lacks a codified minimum age for marriage, with the Taliban overturning the previous age limit of 16 set after the 2001 Western invasion. As a result, a girl's eligible age for marriage is determined by the interpretation of Islamic law, with the Hanafi jurisprudence considering puberty as the "threshold for readiness".

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