Story 1: Thankful the survivors’ group and the Aawaaj for empowering me
Sarala Khatri is a popular name of Dailekh, Dullu municipality. She actively advocates against child marriages and Violence Against Women (VAW) in her community. She is the President of the Duleshwor survivors’ group, whose slogan on the wall went viral. She got married when she was 16 years old to a 25-year-old man. At that time, she was studying in the 10th grade and thought that she would continue her education after marriage. Little did she know that child marriage was illegal and what it entailed. Nobody told her about it. She dropped out from school after her marriage as she got busy with the household chores. She gave birth to a child after a year of marriage. Gradually, her husband started beating her and her in-laws started abusing her. She was accused of being a witch and having evil intensions to destroy the family. The family started disliking her. At times, she did not get to eat properly and for 2 years, she lived in misery. One day, she was kicked out of the house. She went to the forest to commit suicide. Luckily, her neighbor found and rescued her. Sarala told her that her own parents had not yet accepted her marriage with her abusive husband, so she had nowhere to go. Sarala’s parents were disappointed to know about her situation, through her neighbor and they wholeheartedly accepted their daughter back into their lives. After sometime, her mother passed away and she alone had to look after her father who was old and her son who got sick often. These circumstances including the hatred from the society and weak financial conditions led to mental problems in Sarala. She had to deal with many problems at a young age. One day, she attended a meeting of the EFM survivor’s group in her village. She showed interest to join the group and was willing to spread awareness against child marriage so that no other girl/adolescent would have to go through the pains as she did. Once she joined the group, she got to participate in various trainings and received counseling support as needed. She soon became the President of Duleshwor survivors’ group with the support from the group members. She actively engaged in advocating against child marriages and for the rights of women. Now Sarala has become the voice of the voiceless. She also coordinates with the ward office, Nepal police and local organizations to conduct programs against child marriages and domestic violence in schools and in her community. She is actively involved in rescuing victims of child marriages along with the related authorities. In one instance of child marriage, she did not receive enough support from the ward office, Nepal police or the judicial committee. So, she herself registered the case with the district police office. She received many threats and accusations, but she did not withdrew the case. She remarks, “I vividly remember the pain I went through after marrying at a young age. So, I will do whatever it takes to help the girls/adolescents, to prevent them from getting married early and to complete their education for their bright future. I would like to thank the survivors’ group and the Aawaaj for empowering me. Since my neighbor saved me when I was suffering, I now have the responsibility to save the lives of hundreds of girls in my community.”