Shocking: Meet A Muslim Cleric who is in his 60s arrested after marrying six-year-old girl, despite the girl being afraid of him

Mohammad Karim

A Muslim cleric in his 60s has been arrested after marrying a six-year-old girl.

Mohammad Karim was apprehended in Afghanistan, despite claiming that the child was given to him as a "gift".

During an interview with police the girl said: "I am afraid of this man."

Cleric Karim

Mr Karim, who lives in a village in the Ghor province of central Afghanistan, said that he married the child as a "religious offering".

He also claimed that the girl's family were fully aware of the marriage.

Karim told Radio Free Europe: "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.’”

Their wedding was held "during Ramadan in the presence of 30 to 40 people", he claimed.

But the child's parents deny any involvement, claiming their daughter was kidnapped.

Mohammad Zeman Azami, the deputy police commander of Ghor, 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 since been taken to a shelter, and her parents are hoping to be reunited with her soon.

Masoom Anwari, head of the women affairs department in Ghor, said: "This girl does not speak, but repeats only one thing: 'I am afraid of this man'".

Investigators have said that the child has not been physically harmed.