I dropped out of school in Class VII due to difficulties in school. I was studying in the ashramshala and never visited my mother during the vacations and instead went to her elder sister’s house. This is because my mother was living with another man. My elder sister was already married and I was next. My aunt found a 32-year-old man who was already married twice. He visited me when I was with my aunt and I did not resist. Both our families drank together in my aunt’s house and that is how we were married in the presence of family. We stayed on at her place for a while and he had no relations with me for that duration. He took me back home to his sister and then the troubles started. I was scared and refused to sleep with him. He was frustrated and started to beat me up and so did his sister. At that time, MVF was conducting a child marriage campaign and they came to know about my situation. The police took my husband, his sister and my mother to the police station. I refused to accept that I was even married as there was no thaali and mettelu. I also showed the evidence of beatings, scratches and hair being pulled. The police counseled them and declared that I was not married. I was then admitted in a shelter home and began attending KGBV. I have no contact with my husband and his family. Earlier my mother used to scold me since my marriage was dissolved, but is happy to see me doing well. She is also educating my younger sister. I do not go home since my aunt could claim me or my mother might make me work in the fields. I have completed Class X and am now in Class XII.
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’
