Grassroots Action

India Girls Halt Child Marriage Ceremonies, Receive Bravery Award

Five girls, friends from the same small village in India, defied an age-old tradition by stopping the marriage of two girls to much older men last April—and received the 2003 National Bravery Award for their efforts.

Once schoolmates Neelam Rani, Sarita Tyagi, Sunita Devi Singhdoya, Swati Tyagi and Sushma Rani, heard about a marriage arranged by the father of two minor girls to men aged 30 and 26, they resolved to prevent the "gauna" (wedding ritual) from happening.

The girls set in motion a plan to contact adults in their village to help oppose the marriage. They sought, and received, support from their teacher and eventually tried to contact the village panchayat, a village council.

All the while, an unsuspecting Bhopal Singh, moved forward with matrimonial plans for his daughters Suman, 12, and Pushpa, 6. As the ceremony was about to begin, the five young heroines, accompanied by a group of supporters, interrupted the proceedings and asked that the wedding be stopped. And during the heated arguments that ensued, Singh's wife and brother joined in opposition to the marriage. The prospective grooms fled the scene. Singh was ultimately charged—and arrested—for violating India's Child Marriage Restraint Act.