An Afghan father claims that the economic conditions are so dire in his country that he was forced to sell his daughter in order to feed the rest of his family.

Abdul Malik allegedly sold off his 9-year-old daughter Parwana Malik to a 55-year-old man named Qorban. The father alleges that Afghanistan’s economy has been so atrocious since the Taliban takeover that he was forced to sell his young daughter for $2,200 (200,000 Afghanis) in the form of sheep, land, and cash.

“This is your bride. Please take care of her. You are responsible for her now, please don’t beat her,” Malik told the buyer, according to CNN.

Qorban told the outlet, “She will be working in my home. I won’t beat her. I will treat her like a family member. I will be kind.”

The buyer of the small child added, “(Parwana) was cheap, and her father was very poor and he needs money.”