IED organized group members rescued Mim from child marriage

Mim, from Kazipara area of ​​Jessore, is 13 years old. Mim, a member of the IED organized adolescent girls’ group, is in the sixth grade of Anjuman Ara School in the city. Her mother is a housekeeper and her father is a worker in a biscuit factory. The low-income family was getting their minor daughter married to 19-year-old Abdullah from Kazipara’s Battala area. He works as a car washer. The groom’s father Karim Hossain rickshaw puller is a friend of Mim’s father.

The wedding ceremony was held at Karim’s house. Mim’s father also beat her up for not agreeing to the marriage. Meanwhile, Abdullah is a drug addict and has been married before. After his first wife left him, Abdullah’s father was eager to remarry him and persuaded the girl’s family by offering them money.

Upon receiving the news, members of the women’s group ‘Shapla’ and ‘Banchte Shekha’ of Kazipara rescued Mim and discussed the issue with the cluster committee members. Later, they contacted Advocate Kamrun Nahar Kona, Legal Aid Secretary of the Bangladesh Mahila Parishad Jashore District Committee. With her help, an arbitration meeting regarding this child marriage was organized in Kazipara on January 26, 2025. The meeting was attended by lawyer Kamrun Nahar, IED Jessore Center Manager Bithika Sarkar, members of the cluster committee, women’s group, men’s group, and community forum.

The groom’s father, elder brother and aunt, and the girl’s parents were called. After discussing with all those present, it was decided that the marriage was not legal as both the bride and groom were minors. Abdullah would divorce his wife, and it would take effect after three months. In the arbitration, the groom’s father was fined 10,000 taka and asked to deposit the money in the girl’s name in a bank. Both parties agreed to all the decisions in front of everyone present and signed a stamp. This is a move by the organized women’s group against child marriage.