Patna: The Bihar government is planning to appoint Hansika Kumari, a schoolgirl, as brand ambassador of the state for the campaign against child marriage.
Hansika, a class nine student in a government school, had her wedding stopped on Tuesday by filing a formal complaint against her parents. The government lauded her act.
“She has done a wonderful job. She’s sent a message to all the families who want to marry off their children at a tender age. My department will honour the little girl who has set a great example for the society,” Bihar education minister Krishna Nandan Verma said on Thursday.
The Women Development Corporation (WDC), the nodal agency for implementing women development programmes in the state, too hailed the brave act of the little girl and announced her as its “brand ambassador”.
“We will declare her as our brand ambassador on the occasion of launch of the Chief Minister Girls Upliftment Scheme on August 3,” WDC’s managing director Dr N Vijayalaxami said.
Hansika’s story was reported in the media on Wednesday. Her parents had fixed her marriage with a boy from neighbouring Bhojpur district on July 20.
On Tuesday, the groom’s parents had visited Hansika’s home for the pre-wedding function which marks the beginning of the wedding rituals. While her family was happy to marry her off, Hansika wanted the marriage to be postponed. However, her family refused.
Left with no other option, the girl went to the local Bihta police station in Patna district and requested the police for help as she wanted to complete her studies before marriage.
“Please stop my wedding. My parents have fixed my marriage against my wishes. I want to complete my schooling first,” she told the police.
The local station house officer Ranjit Kumar Singh went to her house and spoke to her parents who then put off the wedding. He even got a bond filled up by her parents wherein they promised to perform her marriage only after she attained adulthood.
“My first priority is to study … I want to achieve something in life before entering into wedlock,” Hansika said. According to her, she was inspired by the ongoing “Pahale padai, phir vidai” (study first, marriage later) campaign on the school campus. Her act has been lauded by the authorities as well as the villagers.
