“Help me find my daughter!” This is the cry of a mother in Afghanistan who was forced to sell her three year old daughter last month after the Taliban severely beat her.
Last week, BTJ received a video from BTJ-supported missionaries in Afghanistan from a new believer named Zahra (not her real name). Zahra was about to commit suicide after being beaten by the Taliban and forced to sell her daughter in order to survive.
“To keep my son and I from starving,” she told the BTJ team in a video, “I was forced to sell my three year old daughter. I sold her to a man for [$400 USD].”
Since the Taliban took over two years ago, lack of food has led to extreme starvation. According to Save the Children, almost 8 million children are at dangerous levels of starvation. Many families, like that of Zahra, have resorted to selling their daughters in order to survive.
Older men marrying child brides is a common occurance in Afghanistan.
“Sometimes I hate being a woman and a mother,” Zahra admits, as she struggles with life under the Taliban’s Islamic rule. “I wish I could end my life, because this country is a permanent hell for women and children.”
BTJ has sent a team to locate the man who has purchased the three year old girl, to find a way to get her back to her mother.
If you would like to support the missionaries working with Zahra, click here:
