JHARKHAND: Married at 15, Sunita Devi from Karamtola village in Jharkhand’s Sahibganj district has emerged as a determined campaigner against child marriage.
Having gone through marriage and motherhood as a minor, she resolved to raise her voice for children, unaware of their rights. It was the year 2000 when girls as young as Sunita were married off. There were no protests, no rebellion and hardly any space to question decisions taken by parents.The younger of two sisters, Sunita, left school soon after and was married.
Like lakhs of other girls pushed into marriage before they understood its meaning, her life too could have faded into silence. But instead of accepting her circumstances, she wanted to prevent other girls from meeting the same fate.
“When I got married, there was not a single hand I could hold for support. I loved studying, but in one moment everything was taken away from me, and I couldn’t even complain,” said Sunita Devi, now 34. “Girls’ voices were hardly heard at that time.”
The turning point came at 17. “When I became a mother,my heart turned into steel,” she said.
“I looked at my little girl and promised myself that I would never allow anyone or any tradition to marry her off as a child.”
That promise became the foundation of her mission. After her marriage, she persuaded her husband and in-laws to allow her to continue her education. She resumed her studies and began paying close attention to the lives of young girls in and around her village.
“Initially, whenever I heard that a girl was being married off, I would quietly inform the child helpline,” she said.
“Gradually, I gained confidence and started intervening openly.”
Over time, she began approaching the village sarpanch, counselling families and persuading parents to reconsider their decisions.
Sunita says she has been working in this field for nearly 15 years. Two years ago, she formally joined Parivar Vikas Chandrashekhar Nagar, an organisation working on child protection and child rights in the Munger district of Bihar. “I realised that what I had been fighting was not just a social evil but a crime,” she said.
“That gave me confidence and purpose. I understood that stopping child marriage was not just my personal fight—the law also stands against it.”
Parivar Vikas Chandrashekhar Nagar is a partner of Just Rights for Children, one of the largest networks of NGOs working countrywide to end child marriage by 2030. The organisation conducts awareness campaigns, counselling sessions, pledge ceremonies and direct interventions to prevent such marriages. According to Sunita, convincing parents is often the most difficult part of the work.
“Sometimes it takes a lot to persuade them, especially when they have already decided to marry off their minor daughter,” she said. Last month, she faced strong resistance while trying to stop the marriage of a 14-year-old girl. “The girl’s mother told me she, too, had been married as a child and nothing could change that,” Sunita recalled.
“I told her that as a mother, she has the power to change it. She can stop her daughter from living the same life she suffered.”
After several hours of counselling, the woman relented. Today, Sunita continues working in villages, counselling families and intervening whenever she hears that a minor girl may be forced into marriage.