Afghan child bride is tortured to death by her husband after being forced to marry him in bride exchange between families
A girl in Afghanistan was tortured and killed by her husband after being forced to marry him in a traditional bride exchange
An Afghan child forced to marry a man at least twice her age in a traditional bridal exchange was tortured to death by her husband in a revenge killing.
The body of the girl called Hameya, who the authorities estimate was aged between seven and 10, was found in north-western province of Badghis on Sunday night.
She had been married for six months under a tradition known as 'badal', when girls are exchanged between two families as brides.
Badal enables both families to reduce the cost of marriage by avoiding paying a dowry.
After the other girl in the arrangement was killed by her own husband, Hameya's husband began to torture her in revenge and eventually killed her.
He is on the run from police and her father had been detained for questioning, said police spokesman Naqibullah Amini.
Hameya's husband, whom officials said was aged between 20 and 30, already had at least one wife, according to Lailuma Noorzad, head of the provincial women's affairs department.
The legal marriage age in Afghanistan is 16 for girls and 18 for boys, according to the United Nations.
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But the traditional practice of marrying children still persists in the conservative country, largely due to poverty and insecurity.
According to a recent UN report, at least one in three Afghan girls is married before they turn 18.
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