Yes. We live in the 21 century. At least I thought we did.
Over in Kabul, Afghanistan, Mohammad couldn’t repay a debt. So, naturally, he decided to give his six year old daughter to his lender’s 17 year old son. Oh, and marriage over there is “forever.” NDTV reports:
The arrangement effectively values her life at $2,500. That is the amount Mohammad borrowed over the course of a year to pay for hospital treatment for his wife and medical care for some of his nine children – including Janan, 3, who later froze to death in bitter winter weather because the family could not afford enough firewood to stay warm.
“They said, ‘Pay back our money,’ and I didn’t have any money, so I had to give my girl,” Mohammad said. “I was thankful to them at the time, so it was my decision, but the elders also demanded that I do this.”
Well, now that’s just… cozy, eh? It always amazes me what people will allow under the name of religion. I will admit, however, that life over there is more insane than usual.
“This kind of thing never happened at home in Helmand,” said Mohammad’s mother as she sat in the back of the smoky room. Watching her granddaughter, as she laughed and smiled with her teacher, Najibullah, who also acts as a camp social worker and was visiting the family, she added, “I never remember a girl being given away to pay for a loan.”
The father regrets his decision as well.
“If, God forbid, they mistreat my daughter, then I would have to kill someone in their family,” he said
His daughter loves school, but as a new bride, may have to discontinue her education.
“I cannot tell them what to do,” he added, looking down at his boots. “This is their wife, their property.”
My heart is officially broken.
