Child marriage survivor Roshni Perween writes open letter to CM Nitish Kumar appealing to meet her on August 15 and support her mission
The Nguvu Change Leader hopes to gain his support in ending child marriage in Seemanchal by the end of 2024
In a small corner of Kishanganj, Bihar, a social warrior named Roshni Perween is using technology to fearlessly lead the charge against the deeply-ingrained practice of child marriage.Roshni’s personal experience as a survivor of child marriage fuels her commitment to protect other young girls from the same harrowing fate of being denied education, agency and a voice of their own. Hailing from a small village, she is determined to break this toxic cycle of abuse and pain, armed with her digital campaigning training from the She Creates Change program of Nguvu Collective. And now she has written an open letter to Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar requesting him to grant her an audience on August 15 and support her mission to end child marriage in Seemanchal area by the end of 2024.
She says, “In 2017, on Gandhi Jayanti, our Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had launched a state-wide campaign against child marriage. In 2022, he reiterated the urgency to end child marriage in the state, as part of his “Samaj Sudhar Abhiyan”, a social reforms campaign. But child marriages still continue unabated. I hope, this Independence Day, he will give me his time to tell him what I have personally faced and survived, and to share the horrific stories of young girls who face the same fate as mine.”
In 2017, the Bihar Chief Minister had quoted official numbers of 39% of incidence of child marriages in the state. In June 2022, a UNFPA analytical study quoting the National Family Health Survey 2019-2021, said “Child marriage has declined over one and a half decades, however, it the incidence remains high in Bihar with around 41% of the women in the age group of 20-24 marrying before 18.”
Roshni, an Nguvu Change Leader, is one among many faces in these statistics. She has seen, first hand, the pervasive impact of illiteracy on young girls which makes them victims of forced marriages.
In an online petition she launched recently on child marriage, she says, “An innocent 14-year old girl spends her day in fear that it would be night again and her middle aged husband would have authority over her body. That fear can be paralysing. Through my petition, I want to start a movement that changes the fate of young girls. I am starting this movement from where I live – Seemanchal in Bihar.”
True to her name, Roshni is striving to shed light upon the horrifying realities of child marriage.
Even though the ‘District Child Protection Units’ in Kishanganj, Katihar, and Purnia districts have made efforts to curtail child marriage, Roshni says outreach and village-level implementation are inadequate.
The change, Roshni believes, has to be internal and incremental. She is spearheading awareness programs once a month in middle and high schools. She is also ensuring that the helpline number 181 of the Women and Child Development Corporation is accessible to all. Her dedication serves as a beacon of hope to young girls and communities battling social, economic and gender-based inequities, reminding us that change is possible when courageous individuals stand up and speak out for what is right.