Schoolgirls on Ibo island, part of the Quirimbas archipelago, Mozambique. Photograph: Julian Love/Alamy
Police in Mozambique say they have stopped an attempt to traffic two teenage girls who had been allegedly sold as wives for $64 (£51).
The group was caught by police on the border with Swaziland.
The girls, aged 17 and 13, told the independent TV station STV that they had been lured in by one of their relatives with a promise of jobs in South Africa.
Maputo police spokesperson, Orlando Mudumane, said the girls were kept in captivity for a week in Mozambique before their traffickers attempted to move them to South Africa.
The older girl told STV that they were unhappy when they were told of the plan to marry them off. She said “I didn’t want to marry someone who was buying me. He said my reaction wasn’t logical because he had already paid for me.”
Mr Madumane said it was believed that there was a network of traffickers selling children from Mozambique into sexual slavery in South Africa.
Source: BBC