60 year-old muslim cleric arrested for marrying 6 year-old girl, says she was a gift

Afghanistan: A 60-year-old Muslim cleric Sayed Mohammad Karim from Afghanistan has been arrested for marrying a 6-year-old girl claiming the child was a “religious offering” and sent to him as a “gift”.


Karim said the parents of the child were aware of the marriage but the child's parents claims their daughter was kidnapped in June.
In a radio interview, Karim defended his marriage to the child saying;

“The girl was given to me as a gift and we were married so I could raise her.

After the parents gave their daughter to me, they said, ‘you can take her wherever you want.”

According to reports, the wedding which took place during Ramadan saw 40 guest in attendance.
A deputy police commander, Mohammed Zeman Azami, said:

 “This man has said his wedding to this girl was approved by her mother and father.

“We spoke to her parents and they strongly deny they attended the wedding. On the phone, the parents told me their daughter was kidnapped.”

The child has been rescued and placed in a woman’s shelter in Ghor.

Head of the women affairs department Masoom Anwar, said the girl does not talk, but keeps saying she is ‘afraid’.

According to hospital officials, the child has not been physically harmed and there was sign of psychological harm.

In Afghanistan, the legal age of marriage is 16 years for women and 18 years for men under civil law but under Sharia law children can marry, with the permission of their father or grandfather.