She refused to accept her husband and changed her fate

BHUBANESWAR: When 13-year-old Minati Gagaria from Orissa bags a bravery award from President A P J Abdul Kalam on Wednesday, she will symbolise a punchy protest against the ancient tribal custom of child marriages.

"It was not easy to go against a system when my own family members were involved," said Gagaria, a Munda tribal girl of Nuasahi village in Keonjhar district who dared to revolt against child marriages.

Gagaria, who had almost become a victim of this practice, escaped her fate and a 50-year-old bridegroom by fleeing into a nearby forest, thereby becoming a role model for the tribal girls who face family pressures to marry young.

"After spending seven days in a dense forest, I became confident of facing the situation. I can’t sacrifice my life for this evil practice. I knew that I cannot change the system but I thought one has to raise a protest. So I decided to fight it," said Gagaria, all set to receive the prestigious National Bravery Award on Republic Day eve.

All the residents in Nuasahi village belong to the Munda community, a primitive tribe of Orissa. On Jan 15 last year, during the Maga Parab festival, Gagaria was happy to get a new dress.

She went to the festival ground with her friends and at midnight, along with other young boys and girls, started dancing to the beats of dhol.

According to custom, if a man of the community throws sindoor at a girl and it falls on her forehead, the girl has to marry that man whether she likes it or not.

Gagaria’s life took a dramatic turn when 50-year old Suna Hembram threw sindoor at her. The next moment senior members of the community declared it a ‘marriage’.

"How could I accept an old man of my father’s age as a husband?" she asked. "How could they impose their decision on me and play with my life? Then and there I refused to marry that old man, though I did not know what was going to happen."

Hembram was no stranger to the girl. He was, in fact, a maternal relative who stayed with her family off and on after the death of her father in 2001. When she came back from the festival ground, Gagaria says she was depressed and locked herself in a room.

The next morning her entire family, including Hembram, tried to convince her but failed.
In March, her mother and sister-in-law went to a nearby village to attend a ceremony, leaving Gagaria alone with her little sister at home when a drunk Hembram tried to molest her.

However, she managed to escape and later narrated the incident to her mother, who surprisingly evinced indifference. The next day Gagaria faced more pressure to accept the marriage.

That night, she stole away into the forest and slept under a tree. "I was ready to die, but not spend my entire life with an old man," she added.

Back home, her family frantically searched for her while she spent seven days in the forest surviving on roots and leaves. She then tried to contact one of her friends - Nirupama. Luckily, Nirupama’s husband was willing to help her. With their help, Gagaria lodged a complaint with the Nuasahi police against her brother, mother and Hembram, leading to their arrests.

Her mother and sister-in-law were released on bail subsequently but her brother and "groom" are still in judicial custody. "There is nothing wrong in marrying at a young age," the duo said. "We got married at the age of 10 and 12, respectively. It is a tradition and everybody has to maintain it."