Rewriting Future: Girls Refuse To Be Child Brides; Save Others Too

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A few girls in the city have stopped their own weddings before 18 when child marriages take place. These girls have convinced their parents and family members that they should keep away from child weddings.

Not only that, these courageous and defiant girls saved others from being married off before turning 18. They were On the eve of Akshay Tritiya, which traditionally witnesses a large number of child marriages, Free Press talked with three determined girls who have been feted by the Women and Child Development Department, police department, Unicef , NGOS and others. 

Excerpts:

She is happy, I am happy

The wedding of Afreen Khan (19) was fixed when she was 17. She was the second among her four sisters. The eldest was already married. She told her mother that she would not get married at any cost. Finally she convinced her mother. 

“I had attended a training camp of an NGO in my basti where we were told that child marriage is a crime,” she said. Then, she came to know that one of the girls in her basti, who was not even 17, was to get married on June 25 last year.

Without telling her mother or anyone else, she dialled 1098 a day before, requesting that her identity be kept secret. Police visited the home where the girl lived with her Bua. They warned against any such step and the girl’s relatives relented. “Now she is very happy. She is studying,” said Afreen, who does part-time job and is also planning to resume her studies.

Get motivation from a street play

Sonam Prajapati was 16 when her mother (her father was no more) decided that it was time to marry her off. Her wedding was fixed along with her elder sister’s to save money. A resident of Shabri Nagar in the Nehru Nagar area, Sonam had seen a street play about the effect of child marriage on the health of women and their future children at the local Anganwadi.

She had also heard that parents of child brides and grooms are arrested by the police. She threatened her mother that she would lodge a complaint with the police. Her mother talked with the family elders and she had her way. Since then, she has stopped marriages of many young girls in her locality. She is now 20 and is pursuing her B.Com. from MLB College.  

Called ChildLine when she was 14

When Nargis was 14, she came to know that her junior at school was getting married. “She was not even 13. I felt very bad. Then, someone told me that if I called ChildLine, the wedding can be stopped. “I was terrified but I did it. The same day, a team came and convinced my school mate’s parents to let her continue with her studies instead of marrying her off,” she said. Nargis has managed to stop around eight child marriages so far.  Now at 24, Nargis has completed her masters in social work. She got married a few months ago.