Meet Jogeshwari's 'Fire Girls' out there to douse menace of child marriage

Born in the rural village of Solapur district Ashwini Gudilu shifted to Mumbai to her cousinrsquos home two years ago after she was pressurised to marry her uncle at the age of 16Gudilu lost her mother when she was three and her maternal grandmother took care of her Her marriage was fixed with her motherrsquos brother when she was a child she saysAshwini is now a part of a girl group who are fighting child marriage in their Vaidu community in MumbaiAshwini who belongs to the Vaidu community recalls ldquoAs soon as my SSC results was declared my grandmother asked me to marry her son While my marriage was decided with him when I was a child he married another girl when I was in class 7 Within a few years he got divorced My grandmother was concerned about his future so along with other relatives she pressurised me to marry him when I was 16yearsold I wanted to study further so I came to Mumbai to stay with my cousin and complete my educationOver 20 Vaidu girls in Mumbairsquos Jogeshwari area have formed a group called lsquoFire Girlsrsquo to stop child marriage in their community Families go to their native village in rural parts of Solapur Nashik to get their children married in a remote environment so that no one can oppose the marriageldquoWe want to bring a change in our community by preventing child marriages I was lucky to escape this but many of my school friends got married before they turned 18 Now they have kids too In December last year we tried to stop one of my school friendrsquos marriage Even after opposing the marriage a few days later her family got her married secretlyrdquo says AshwiniA resident of Jogeshwari Priyanka Varganti 18 who too was pressurised by her family to marry her relative says ldquoIn our community when a girl is born her marriage is decided by the family members The first girl child is married to a family member and when the girl reaches puberty the family starts preparations for her marriagerdquoShe adds ldquoThrough the lsquoFire Girlsrsquo initiative we want to create awareness among the teenagers to fight against child marriage All 20 girls who are a part of the initiative are between 1418 years of age and have their marriage stories to narrate Youngsters these days are more active on social media platforms and like watching reels As a first initiative of lsquoFire Girlsrsquo we have made an Instagram reel to create social awareness about this issuerdquoDurga Gudilu a social activist in the Vaidu community who has been a strong support to these girls says ldquoMany of these girls want to study further and make a successful career but their families think in a different way Usually the families fear that if their girl has access to a smartphone and the internet freely she will have her opinion about how she wants to shape her future and might get into intercaste marriage later Due to which as soon as the girl reaches puberty they prefer to get her married within the familyrdquoAlso Read I will be a bride but not anyones wife says Gujarat girl who is to marry self on June 11To ensure that child marriage is eradicated from society the Government of India enacted the Prevention of Child Marriage Act 2006 but still child marriage continues to be an issue in the interior parts of India Last year the central government proposed a bill to increase the age of marriage for girls from 18 to 21 noting that postmarital responsibilities have farreaching effects on girls healthThe rate of child marriage in the nomadic community is huge There is often a lack of cooperation from the authorities to stop child marriages in tribal rural areasDurga adds ldquoChild marriages at an early age are rampant in our community due to lack of education Although the Department of Women and Child Development has succeeded in stopping child marriages in Maharashtra due to the Covid19 pandemic restrictions there were still a large number of child marriages that the government was not able to stoprdquoAccording to last yearrsquos data reported by UNICEF 790 child marriages were prevented across Maharashtra through joint action of the Department of Women and Child Development CHILDLINE Police and civil society In the Solapur district 88 marriages of girls under 18 years were prevented in 2021 followed by Aurangabad 62 Osmanabad 45 Nanded 45 Yavatmal 42 and Beed 40Speaking about other issues due to child marriage Gudilu adds ldquoMany girls suffer from health issues due to early age pregnancy too Sometimes they have a child with a recessive conditionrdquo