Dadu girl, 12, sold for Rs50,000 by father to repair house hit by flood

A 50-year-old man has reportedly married her 12-year-old daughter for receiving Rs50,000 to reconstruct his house hit by floods in Dadu’s Mehar tehsil.

The incident was reported by BBC Urdu regarding a family which agreed to marry the daughter for money to repair the flood-hit house.

It was reported that the 12-year-old girl was ‘promised’ for 25,000 PKR and the remaining amount will be received on the day of the wedding, which will take place next month.

The man namely Qadir Bakhsh justified his decision despite knowing that the child marriages are a crime. He said, “Our house, belongings have all been washed away. No one is helping us, not even the government, not even a kilo of flour has been found. The water will recede and we will go back to the village, so what will we do there with empty hands?”

According to a non-government organization (NGO) ‘Zindagi Development Organization’, Qadir Bakhsh is not alone among those making such a decision. There have been similar ‘marriages’ among two dozen girls from different families so far in his village.

When told that this marriage is illegal and a crime, Bakhsh expressed anger and said, “First ask the government to help us and then explain to us what is wrong and what is right. Where will six people eat food? Who will arrange medicine for my wife who is sick? We don’t know when the water will recede and when we will go back, how will we survive until then? Who will solve our problems?”

Given the current state of relief work with rations being wasted as they are dropped out of helicopters, it’s unclear if authorities will intervene to help the 12-year-old being sold. As well as the dozens of other girls being sold in just that village alone.