In the Afghan state of Helmand, there was a shocking event that echoed not only in the region but worldwide. In Marjah District, a six-year-old girl was married to a 45-year-old man who already had 2 wives.
According to local sources, the father of the kid was paid in return for the conclusion of this “marriage”. Photographs of the ceremony showing a man standing next to a clearly frightened kid have circulated social media, causing a wave of outrage.
The ceremony was to end with the transfer of the girl to the man's house, but before that happened, representatives of the Taliban authorities intervened. The man was detained, but no charges were made. Instead, he was instructed to wait until the girl was nine. Officially, the "legalisation" process of the union was temporarily halted, but these actions did not bring real protection to the child. The deficiency of sanctions and the deficiency of systemic mechanisms to counter specified cases is simply a standard in confederate Afghanistan, where the Taliban has almost indivisible power.
Human rights organisations considered this situation to be another link in the chain of tragedy affecting girls in Afghanistan. Cases of kid matrimony are becoming more frequent, especially in the provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul. Sources in aid organisations indicate that the causes include hunger, poverty, deficiency of education and strong patriarchal standards that let girls to be treated as goods for exchange or sale.
Although Afghan law does not clearly find the minimum age of marriage, local practices are based on loosely interpreted spiritual and conventional principles. In the case of this girl, the Taliban did not question the thought of matrimony to the kid itself — they simply postponed it in time.
The debate on specified cases frequently raises the question: what does Islam say about it? The Quran does not find a circumstantial age of marriage, but it speaks of the request to scope physical and intellectual maturity before entering a relationship. Fragments specified as Sura An-Nisa (4:6) propose that marriage, like wealth management, should be reserved for those who have achieved an adequate level of responsibility. In Islam's history, there are reports of Prophet Muhammad's matrimony to Aisha, concluded erstwhile she was most likely six years old, but modern scholars are increasingly questioning the credibility of these relations or reading them in the context of different norms of the 7th century.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, under the Taliban regime, the situation of the girls continues to deteriorate. Without clear rules, without a law enforcement strategy and without political will, specified stories will repeat. global organisations call for decisive action — from diplomatic pressures to support local initiatives to aid victims of force and arranged marriages. due to the fact that this fight is not about religion, tradition or local culture — it is about the simple dignity of the child.
