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A 16 year old girl Gulshan (name changed) was married to a 28 year old man in Rajasthan. Forced to drop out from school and sent to another town to stay with her in-laws, her fate could have been same as rest of the child brides of India but her friends from school, seven boys and six girls, decided change the narrative.

Gulshan’s friends swung into action and started looking for after her Gauna (Rajasthani tradition of sending the bride to her in-laws). Her little friends ran from pillar to post to track her down. They even requested the women commission and Police for help but it led to a naught, in return, they got feeble reasons why both departments cannot help. Finally, they contacted the District Collector’s office and pleaded for help. The collector, Siddharth Mahajan, recalls how the kid who had called, pleading for his help, was sobbing on the phone. Mr. Mahajan mobilized the response and the directed local police to rescue Gulshan from her plight.

Gulshan, it appears, was married 2 years before she was sent to her in-laws in line with an age-old custom of two families exchanging daughters as brides. Gulshan was exchanged in return for her brother’s bride despite not wanting to marry and continuing her education. Gulshan got a fresh lease of her life due to her biggest strengths – her friends. She was lucky, but there are many girls who live with this fate forever.

India has toothless laws that fail to prevent child marriage effectively. In fact, in 2016, BJP Jharkhand chief’s son was married to an 11-year-old girl. It’s ironic that people responsible for pushing the country forward are pushing it back into backwardness. Everyone knows that India needs stronger laws to protect young girls from becoming child-brides. Everyone also wonders if we will ever see a year when no cases of child marriages are reported. Hopefully it will happen soon.

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