Brave girl saves herself from child marriage

Everyone now calls her a brave girl after Barsha went to the police on Tuesday to save herself from child marriage.

Barsha is a science student at class 10 in Jhinuk Secondary School in Sadar upazila of Chuadnaga.

Friends and teachers greeted her when she returned to the school on Wednesday.

Everyone had a question. From where did she get such bravery? “None of the girls who were married off at early age are happy. I want to establish myself after completing my study and then I want to get married,” Barsha said.

She expressed gratefulness to her teacher Shamsunnahar Shila for making them aware about the consequence of child marriage.

“Madam tells us every day during class not to get married at an early age. Female students will have to be self-reliant. Never remain dependent on others. Her speeches make me brave,” Barsha recalled.

When friends asked her whether she was afraid of going to the police, Barsha replied, “I knew police may not take other steps but they would at least stop the marriage. And it is a part of the duty of police.”

She thinks journalists have done a good job giving coverage on her. “Journalists did a good job writing about me on newspapers. It will inspire other girls to stand against child marriage,” said Barsha, who want to be a journalist in future.

Barsha told Prothom Alo her uncles and aunts was pressuring her for marriage for several days but she didn’t want to get married now. She couldn’t concentrate on her study. She couldn’t sleep for the fear of getting married.

“I often dreamt my mother was marrying me off. When I awoke I was so sadden. Since then, I have started thinking about how to stop the marriage at any cost. And, I found a way. Finally, I went to the police station on Tuesday and told the officer-in-charge (OC) everything. The OC then acted immediately and stopped the marriage,” she added.

Barsha said she goes to her school crossing the Sadar police station. And she went to seek police’s assistance after seeing a banner inscribed with 'help police prevent child marriage'.

Jhinuk Secondary School principal Rebeka Sultana said they have arranged free tutoring for Barsha till her SSC examinations.

Sadar police station OC Mohammad Mohsin said, "We have arranged conveyance allowance for the girl to attend school."

*This report appeared in the online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Hasanul Banna.