11-year-old gets police to stop her marriage
Her family wanted to marry her off to a 15-year-old boy on Friday night.
But 11-year-old Monika -- a second grader who didn’t have the slightest idea of her marriage even in the morning of that day -- decided to stand her ground and go against her family’s decision.
When she was asked to get a bridal makeover in the afternoon, she then went to one of her neighbours’ house with two of her schoolmates -- Farjana and Konika -- of Barguna’s Basugi Government Primary School.
The three then secretly went to Barguna’s Amtali Police Station and sought help from the law enforcers, said Nasrin, sub-inspector of the police station.
Police and local administration officials immediately rushed to their house in Barguna’s Amtali upazila, Nasrin added.
Kamalesh Chandra Majumder, assistant commissioner of land in the upazila, explained to the girl’s mother -- Shahanaj -- of the negative impacts of child marriage.
She finally realised her fault and declared that there would be no wedding now.
Shahanaj, a cleaner of Amtali municipality, arranged her daughter’s marriage with one of her fellow workers Shamim a few days ago.
Her husband Jewel, a rickshaw puller, had also okayed the marriage, Shahnaj told The Daily Star.
Monika told reporters, “I want to be educated and become a police officer so that I can prevent child marriage in future.”
Najmun Nahar, Monika’s neighbour, said what Monika did was courageous and that they were proud of her.
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