From child bride to changemaker, 16-year-old UP girl leads fight against early marriage

Sixteen-year-old Shivani, an aspiring police officer and a Class 11 student, was felicitated on International Women’s Day for her courage in standing up against child marriage—not just for herself but for other young girls as well. Recognised by the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department, she was honoured for preventing her own marriage at 15 and for bringing similar cases to the authorities’ attention.

Shivani witnessed her older sister being married off at 16 in 2022 when she was just 12. Soon after, her sister’s health deteriorated, and she suffered two miscarriages before her third pregnancy. “She was always unwell. That’s when I realised marriage was not what I wanted right now,” Shivani recalled.

One of four siblings, Shivani hails from a financially struggling family in Tulsipur tehsil of Balrampur. Her father, a daily wage labourer, passed away in 2023, leaving her mother to take up farm work to sustain the family. A year after her father’s demise, when Shivani turned 15, it was her turn to be married off.

Despite her repeated pleas, her mother refused to call off the wedding. Determined, Shivani approached the Child Welfare and Protection Committee (CWPC) in Balrampur—a body working in partnership with the WCD and NGOs. The authorities counseled her mother and connected the family with the Sponsorship and Foster Care scheme under Mission Vatsalya, which provides ₹4,000 per month per child.

Now in Class 11, Shivani recently scored 64% in her school exams and is determined to pursue a college degree. Her fight against child marriage hasn’t stopped with her own case—she has successfully convinced three other families to call off their underage daughters’ weddings.

“They mocked me when I tried to reason with them. But their reactions didn’t deter me,” she said. By reporting these cases to the CWPC, she helped her friends escape child marriage.

Arpit, an NGO worker who handled Shivani’s case, said, “She has emerged as a changemaker in her own right, and her story will inspire others to take her words and efforts seriously.”