Wal-What? Taliban arrests 45-year-old Afghan man for marrying 6-year-old girl because he didn't wait till she was 9!

In a horrific development from Afghanistan, a 45-year-old man, already married twice, wed a six-year-old in the Helmand province. When the Taliban administration came to know about this, there were repercussions, and the groom and the father of the child were arrested. The man was told he could not take the "bride" home, considering her age, and must wait for the girl to turn nine.

 

Afghan media reports confirmed that the man paid the parents of the six-year-old girl money in return for her hand. Despite outrage over the development, the marriage stands, multiple media reports confirmed. The two men were arrested in Marjah district, the same district where the marriage ceremony took place. However, reports said the Taliban haven't charged either man.

 

In Pashtun culture, the guardian of the bride accepting money in exchange for her is called "Walwar," which simply means "the bride price." The payment, mostly accepted by the woman's father or brother, can be in cash or in kind, and its amount is typically negotiated between the two families.

World