Afghan man, 45, marries 6-year-old girl; Taliban intervenes, says she ‘can join husband when she turns 9'

Mint

10-07-2025

A 45-year-old man has married a six-year-old girl in Afghanistan's Helmand province, sparking outrage and renewed concerns over child marriage under Taliban rule. US-based Afghan outlet Amu.tv reported that Taliban officials were 'horrified' after seeing images of the ceremony. They stopped the man from taking the girl home, saying instead she could go to her husband's house when she turns nine.
Despite the backlash, the marriage remains valid.
According to the Hasht-e Subh Daily, the man, who already has two wives, paid the girl's family money for her. The wedding took place in the Marjah district. Following this, the girl's father and the groom were arrested, but neither has been formally charged.
Child marriage has worsened in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Restrictions on women's education and work have fuelled early and forced marriages, with families facing growing financial hardship.
Last year, UN Women said these bans led to a 25 per cent rise in child marriages and a 45 per cent increase in childbearing across the country. UNICEF lists Afghanistan among the nations with the highest number of child brides globally.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) recently issued arrest warrants for two top Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity over their treatment of women and girls. The court said there were 'reasonable grounds' to believe that Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani were responsible for systematic persecution.
In response, the Taliban rejected the ICC's authority, calling the move 'a clear act of hostility' and 'an insult to the beliefs of Muslims around the world'.
Rights groups warn that child marriage exposes girls to lifelong harm, including early pregnancies, sexual abuse, depression and social isolation. In many cases, girls have no say in whom or when they marry. Some are promised to male cousins at birth through a practice called 'naming', treating them as family property.
In rural areas, girls are also traded for walwar – a bride price paid by the groom's family based on the girl's appearance, health or education. Mahbob, a community activist, told The Afghan Times, 'There are many families in our village who have given away their daughters for money. No one helps them. People are desperate.'
Another tradition, known as baad, sees girls exchanged to settle disputes between families. A girl given away becomes the namus (honour) of her husband's family. If widowed, she may be forcibly married to another male relative.
Amiri, a 50-year-old woman from Uruzgan, told The Afghan Times that she married off her 14-year-old daughter to a 27-year-old man for 300,000 Afghanis. 'I knew she was too young,' she said. 'But we had nothing at home. I used the money to feed the rest of my family.'
Afghanistan currently has no fixed legal minimum age for marriage. The former civil code, which set the age at 16 for girls, has not been reinstated under the Taliban. Instead, marriage is guided by interpretations of Islamic law. In the Hanafi school of thought, a girl can be married once she reaches puberty.
The Taliban's crackdown on women and girls extends far beyond marriage. Girls are banned from secondary schools, universities, parks, gyms and public baths. Women cannot work in most jobs, travel without a male guardian, or show their faces in public. Last year, the Taliban defended these rules, claiming a woman 'loses her value' if her face is seen by men.