A man  in Afghanistan has been accused of strangling to death a nine-year-old girl who was forcibly given to him by her family as a child bride to pay off a debt.

News of the murder emerged a day after publication of  the  UN children’s agency, Unicef, and the Afghan ministry of labour joint report suggesting that more than one in three Afghan girls were still being married off before the age of 18.

The girl’s murder was confirmed to local media by the provincial governor, Naqibullah Amini According to the Afghan website and television channel Tolo News, the victim named Samia, was “married” to the alleged killer, named as Sharafuddin, at the age of seven to settle a debt – known as a baad. (Image above: illustration).