BAMYAN (SW) – In an improvised poor village of Bamyan province, a poor family was compelled by crippling poverty to sell off its minor 45-day baby for AFN 50,000.
This couple, 45-year-old Ghulam and 27-year-old Marzieh have a total of five children.
Holding tears in her eyes, the devastated mother, Marzieh, said she did not have enough food to feed her child that got ill due to malnutrition. "We went to the Bamyan Human Rights Commission for help, but it didn't work out," Marzieh said. “I had to hand the baby to another family in order for the child’s survival and my child's future. I pray to Allah no other women sees such a day”, she sighed.
Marzieh has been forced to sell her infant son while many institutions in the province operate for poverty alleviation and support for poor families, but poverty is increasing day by day despite the presence of these institutions.
Marzieh said the 50,000 afghanis went to cover the cost of debt clearing and the purchase of food and cloths, and now they do not know what to do to survive the cold season.
Their neighbor Mohammed Hossein Aqil confirmed the ordeal of this devastated family. He said that the neighbors had been aware of their problems, but nothing was done to help them. Aqil said Marzieh's baby had a heart hole, but her father's attempt to treat the baby was unsuccessful.
Officials at the Independent Human Rights Commission's Bamyan field office said they have prevented the sale of two more children this year, however, the minors were indeed sold under the pretext of marriage.
According to Javad Dadgar, head of the IHRC's field office, there have been five cases of forced, exchange and underage marriages this year, the most important causes of which are economic problems, poverty and unemployment. According to Dadgar, poverty is the cause of violations of fundamental rights of women and children, and leads to the continuation of underage and forced marriages in Bamyan province.
According to the findings of the Commission's field office, there are currently more than a hundred families in Bamyan living in the historic mountain caves in the province.
According to reports, 60 percent of Bamyan residents are living below the poverty line.
ENDS
