A photo circulating on social media shows a 45-year-old man with the 6-year-old girl he has just married — a harrowing example of the worsening child marriage crisis under Taliban rule.
Local sources in Helmand say that a 45-year-old man, who already has two other wives, has married a 6-year-old girl.
According to the sources, the girl’s father gave her in marriage to this older man "in exchange for money."
Sources stated that the wedding ceremony between the 45-year-old man and the child took place on Friday, 27th June, 2025.
However, before the child was handed over to her 45-year-old "husband," local Taliban officials stepped in — not to stop the marriage, of course, but to show their version of "restraint." Sources say they told the man to hold off and wait until the girl turns the oh-so-mature age of 9 before taking her to his house.
Child marriage—especially the forced marriage of young girls to much older or middle-aged men—remains one of the most pervasive and culturally embedded forms of gender-based violence across Afghanistan. Since the Taliban's return to power, this practice has surged dramatically, fueled by the regime's ultra-patriarchal policies, the collapse of legal protections, and the deepening economic desperation faced by families. The normalization of such coercive unions under the guise of tradition not only strips girls of their childhood and basic human rights, but also reinforces a broader system of gender oppression that thrives under the Taliban’s rule.