Starving Afghans sell girls of eight as brides

The Observer, January 7, 2007 By Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor

Villagers whose crops have failed after a second devastating drought are giving their young daughters in marriage to raise money for food.

Azizgul is 10 years old, from the village of Houscha in western Afghanistan. This year the wheat crop failed again following a devastating drought. Her family was hungry. So, a little before Christmas, Azizgul's mother 'sold' her to be married to a 13-year-old boy. 'I need to sell my daughters because of the drought,' said her mother Sahatgul, 30. 'We don't have enough food and the bride price will enable us to buy food. Three months ago my 15-year-old daughter married.

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