My father has two wives and five children. My mother is the first wife. My older sister is married and they want to get me married. Father stays with his second wife. I was in Class IX and 14 years old when my parent started to look for a match for me. They fixed my marriage with a boy from Kodad village and who is also studying. They wanted Rs.5 lakh in dowry. I did not want to get married. I protested by not talking to anyone in the family and by not eating. I informed the anganwadi centre and MVF. My parents were upset and beat me. The relatives went to the boy’s house to convince them to postpone the marriage. They were upset and refused to return the Rs.5,000 that was given in advance. The mediators tried to explain that I am a minor and there would be a case against them if they went forward. The marriage was stopped.
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’
