Two schoolgirls picked up courage to stop their marriages fixed by their parents at Botlapalem village, near Darsi, in Prakasam district on Tuesday.
The two students studying in seventh and 10th class in the Zilla Parishad high school in nearby Pothavaram village first shared their woes with each other. They then decided to call the child helpline as they were determined to continue their studies. Social activists led by HELP Programme Officer B.V. Sagar rushed to the village along with the school headmistress as also local revenue and police officials and stopped the marriages with persons more than 10 years older than them.
Parents of both the girls gave an undertaking to District Child Welfare Committee that they would not perform their marriages before they attained the age of 18 years.