Another forced marriage prevented in Balkh

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Police have prevented the forced marriage of a 12-year-old girl in this capital city of northern Balkh province and arrested two people in connection with the incident.

In a video message, Faiz Mohammad Faizi, anti-crime division head at the Balkh police headquarters, said that the 12-year-old girl was being married to an older married man.

He said that the girl’s stepfather and the person she was being married to had been arrested and their case submitted to judicial organs.

Without revealing her name, the girl said she was an orphan and her stepfather wanted to forcibly marry her to an older married man without her consent.

The girl’s father, Tahir, said the girl was one month old when became orphaned and he raised her for about thirteen years and now he wanted her to marry Faizullah.

Tahir said the girl had initially shown consent but was now not happy with the marriage.

Balkh Police Headquarters spokesman Mohammad Esai Wasiq told Pajhwok Afghan News: “Faizullah, a resident of Chahar Bolak district had complained that the girl is not being handed over to him despite their nikah, but after investigating the case, it was revealed that the girl was underage and was married to the man without her consent, so the marriage was stopped.”

It should be noted that such marriages have been stopped in a number of provinces before.

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