My father passed away when we were very young. My mother does welding work and got my elder sister married. I dropped out of school during Class V to help my mother. She got me married within a year when I was 13 years old, against my wishes. I wanted to be with my mother and help her. She convinced me that if I got married, she would be relieved of all her responsibilities and also that the match was a good one. My husband works as a mechanic and gives me whatever I ask for, but I hesitate to ask. In my mother-in-law’s house, I do normal domestic work and help her. In the beginning, she was irritated with me as I was inefficient and did not know how to cook. I have got used to cooking and taking care of the home while my in-laws go out to work. They treat me very well and are kind because I lost my father when I was little. After two years of marriage, I gave birth to a girl. She is now 15 months old. It was a caesarian. I am pregnant now and have gone to my mothers’ house for delivery. Nobody was happy that I had a baby girl. But my husband wanted a daughter. He visited me during the first pregnancy and visited me this time too. I have no friends near my husband’s place but meet friends when I stay with my mother.
Narrative provided by M Venkatarangaiya Foundation in their report ‘…and they never lived happily ever after. The battle for justice goes on: Voices of married girls in Telangana’
