Mumbai: Meet Jogeshwari's very own 'Fire Girls' out there to douse the menace of child marriage

`Fire Girls` of Mumbai. Pic/Durga Gudilu

Born in the rural village of Solapur district, Ashwini Gudilu, shifted to Mumbai to her cousin's home two years ago after she was pressurised to marry her uncle at the age of 16.

Gudilu lost her mother when she was three and her maternal grandmother took care of her. Her marriage was fixed with her mother's brother when she was a child, she says.

Ashwini is now a part of a girl group who are fighting child marriage in their Vaidu community in Mumbai.

Ashwini, who belongs to the Vaidu community, recalls, "As 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 16-years-old. I wanted to study further, so I came to Mumbai to stay with my cousin and complete my education."

Over 20 Vaidu girls in Mumbai's Jogeshwari area have formed a group called ‘Fire Girls' 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 marriage.

"We 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 friend's marriage. Even after opposing the marriage, a few days later, her family got her married secretly," says Ashwini.

A resident of Jogeshwari, Priyanka Varganti, 18, who too was pressurised by her family to marry her relative says, "In 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 marriage."

She adds, "Through the ‘Fire Girls' 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 14-18 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 ‘Fire Girls' we have made an Instagram reel to create social awareness about this issue."

Durga Gudilu, a social activist in the Vaidu community who has been a strong support to these girls, says, "Many 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 inter-caste marriage later. Due to which, as soon as the girl reaches puberty, they prefer to get her married within the family."

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To 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 post-marital responsibilities have far-reaching effects on girls' health.

The 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 areas.

Durga, adds, "Child 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 Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, there were still a large number of child marriages that the government was not able to stop."

According to last year's 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 (40).

Speaking about other issues due to child marriage, Gudilu adds, "Many girls suffer from health issues due to early age pregnancy too. Sometimes they have a child with a recessive condition."