In a shocking glimpse into the depths of Afghanistan's collapsing society, a desperate father has been filmed tearfully announcing his plan to sell one of his seven-year-old twin daughters to pay off debts and put bread on the table for his other children.
Abdul Rashid Azimi, from the remote and famine-stricken Ghor province, broke down in front of BBC cameras as he clutched little Roqia and Rohila close to him, before declaring he was prepared to hand one of the girls over for marriage or domestic servitude.
"I'm willing to sell my daughters," the sobbing father wept. "I'm poor, in debt, and helpless. I come home with parched lips, distressed, and confused. My children come to me saying, 'Baba, give us some bread. But what can I give? Where is the work?"Azimi claimed that selling one of the twins could feed the rest of his family for at least four years. "It breaks my heart, but it's the only way," he added, kissing one of the girls as he spoke.
The disturbing footage, which has sparked fury online after being shared widely on X, comes amid a spiralling humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, more than four years since the Taliban seized power in 2021.
Ghor is one of the worst-hit areas, where three-quarters of people cannot even meet basic needs, according to the United Nations. Unemployment is rampant, international aid has been slashed, and prolonged drought has left millions on the brink of famine, with 4.7 million Afghans, more than 10 per cent of the population, one step from starvation.
Hospitals are reportedly seeing rising child deaths from malnutrition, while Taliban rules banning girls from secondary education and severely restricting women's work have only worsened the economic freefall.
Another father in the province, Saeed Ahmad, has already sold his five-year-old daughter, Shaiqa, because he couldn't afford her medical treatment.
The BBC report frames the horror as "unbearable choices" forced on fathers by extreme poverty. But the footage has triggered a storm of condemnation on social media, with many viewers branding the father's actions as pure evil rather than a tragic necessity, and slamming the broadcaster for what they see as a sympathetic spin.
"This isn’t a hard economic choice, it’s pure evil," raged one user. "Civilised societies never cross this line. This is Taliban rule and normalised child marriage in action."Others pointed out the cultural element: "This has nothing to do with poverty and everything to do with shitty culture," while some asked why the father wouldn't exhaust every other option first. "I would starve to death before I ever sold my flesh and blood," declared one furious response.
Critics have accused the BBC of portraying child traffickers as victims, with the report drawing fierce backlash from politicians and commentators who called it morally bankrupt.
