Jawed Khurshid

Girls in the state are fighting against this age-old social anomaly since decades. In Maharashtra’s remote areas their voices of displeasure have started acquiring the shades of revolt as the growing numbers of girls have reportedly resisting their elders to marry at that tender age…

In its drive – ‘Say No to Child Marriage’, UNICEF has come out with startling revelations. The minor girls – those in the first flush of puberty, started resisting their parents and elders in the state of Maharashtra those who want them to get married.  

Meet 15-year-old Sunita Wachami from the Naxal-hit district of Gadhchiroli. When her elder brother and sister forced her to choose between getting married or enlisting as a Naxal cadre, she chose education instead.

“I refused to drop out of school. I told them I wanted to complete my education and become an IPS officer,” says Sunita.

Sunita now studies in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, a Government-run residential school for vulnerable girls in Bhamragad.

Budding wrestler and standard 10 student, Asha Tonde came all the way from Kedarbasti village in Parbhani district to Mumbai to receive her Navjyoti award. The 16-year-old is the third of four children of farm labourers. Her elder brother and sister were both married off when they were in class 11 and 9 respectively.

But Asha had other plans for herself.

“From a very young age I was certain that I didn’t want to disrupt my education by marrying before the age of 18. I had seen what had happened to my older siblings and felt bad for them,” she says.

So, when a marriage proposal came for Asha last Diwali, she immediately protested. She too dreams of becoming a police officer someday.

Fourteen-year-old Baby Thoke from Salgaon in Jalna district dedicates her Navjyoti award to her elder sister Savita, who stopped elders from marrying her off in April 2013.

‘Savita was forced into marriage when she was my age and soonbecome a victim of domestic violence. She didn’t want me to suffer the same fate.”

It was Baby’s determination to study further and become a singer that drove Savita to intervene. Baby now studies at the KGBV in Partur block.

Harsha Koli is 17-years-old and lives with her family in Shahdara village in Nandurbar district. She learnt all about child rights from her mother who is a Deepshikha Prerika.

“By attending weekly meetings, I learnt about the harsh consequence of child marriage on a girl’s mental, physical and emotional health.”

Harsha has been stopping child marriages in her village since 2010 by going house to house to raise awareness against the practice. She is also a role model for her peers because she is funding her own education by working in fields before school hours.

At 13 years, Pranali Sontakke is the youngest recipient of the Navjyoti award this year. The class 8 student from Gondiya district is a member of Meena Raju Manch (MRM), a forum that seeks to promote gender equality at the school-level.

“Through MRM activities I learnt that child marriage was illegal. When our drawing teacher arranged his daughter’s marriage, I convinced him to call it off as she was underage. I believe girls must be educated as much as boys, if not more. Educated women can serve their families and societies better and find better spouses too,” says Pranali.