Surat: A nursing student showed immense courage to stop her own marraige, as she had not attained the legal age, by calling up the 181 Abhayam women’s helpline in Navsari town.
The girl, who is six months short of legal marriageable age, did not want to tie the nuptial knot but her parents and other family members were adamant. In fact, they had even got invitation cards printed for the wedding that was fixed for November 30.
Officials said this was the first case in Navsari district where a minor girl herself came forward to stop her marriage. “Usually, we get information from neighbours or other sources about child marriages. But this is the first case in Navsari where a girl herself helped us stop her marriage,” said an official from Abhayam.
“The called us on Wednesday informing us that she was not of marriageable age and sought our intervention,” the official said.
The girl’s father earns a livelihood by driving an auto rickshaw and the family has fixed her marriage with a boy who works in a factory in Surat.
“When we reached her house, our team saw that the wedding invitation cards were being distributed among famiy members. The family had also made all the mariage purchases. But the would-be bride was not ready to get married. She is studying in the last year of nursing course,” an Abhayam team member who went to her house said.
When her parents insisted that she was a major, they were asked to produce her school leaving certificate, which called their bluff.
The family members were counselled about the legality involved and were requested to cancel her planned wedding. The boy’s family was also informed about the criminality of child marriage