Crusader against child marriages
HER struggle for survival began even before she was born. Her own family wanted to kill her in her mother’s womb after her father abandoned them.
Rajasthan-based Kriti Bharti has been fighting ever since – which led her to battle for those who are let down by their families and forced to get married as children.
Born prematurely at seven months, she first fought for her own survival; then she fought her family, who considered her a curse. Now she has been fighting for years against child marriages, despite death and rape threats.
Kriti’s mother decided to have her as it was too risky to go for an abortion. But her personal struggles were not over, as she was constantly tormented by her relatives. Owing to medical complications, she became stuck in the womb, suffering serious head injuries.
“This was my first struggle – to survive in this world. Born against the will of my relatives, I had to face torture and taunts in my childhood.
“When my mother went out to work I was ill-treated and mentally tortured by my relatives, who said I had bad blood,” Kriti said.
“Some relatives went to the extent of changing their paths to avoid seeing my face (thinking I brought ill-luck),” she recalled sadly.
While such experiences scarred her psyche, her mother Indu and grandparents, Nemichand and Krishna Mahnot, supported her, becoming pillars of strength.
But one of her relatives gave her slow poison when she was 10 years old. Even as she survived, the poison paralysed her, except her head and a hand.
“I could not sit, walk, stand or even change sides while sleeping. About 90% of my body became insensitive,” she said.
During this traumatic time, her mother took her to reiki teacher Brahmanand Saraswati’s ashram in Bhilwara, where several sessions of reiki (a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation said to promote healing) led to some improvement.
For the second time in her life she had to learn to walk. At 11 she was able to crawl like a toddler. Then she learnt how to sit and walk with support. At 12 she could again stand and started walking.
But, traumatised by her childhood memories, Kriti was disenchanted with the world, gave up everything and changed her last name to Bharti, becoming the “daughter of Bharat (India)”. She learnt the reiki art of healing and yoga practices.
After being counselled by her mother and her teacher, Brahmanand Saraswati, Kriti resumed her education and appeared for open board exams after a gap of four years, skipping six standards.
“With regular 15- to 16-hour study sessions, I cleared my exams and then did my graduation, post-graduation and doctorate in psychology from Jai Narayan Vyas University in Jodhpur.”
After getting her doctorate, Kriti set out on her mission to work for the welfare of stigmatised children, and women and now has a dream to make Rajasthan child marriage-free.
After freeing many girl children from child marriages, she has become the guardian and mother of such balika
vadhus (child brides).
In 2012 she started the Saarthi trust in Jodhpur, and is now a rehabilitation psychologist and managing trustee of the organisation.
“With a pledge to eradicate child marriages in the country, I prevented dozens of child marriages. But such marriages continued and innocent children were forced to follow traditions, wasting their lives,” she said.
To find a solution, Kriti discussed the situation with legal experts and came up with the idea of annulment of such illegal child marriages.
“Annulment of child marriage means the marriage which took place years ago is made legally null and void.
“After annulment, the boys and girls who tied the knot of child marriage years ago are freed from this bond,” she explained.
A victim of child marriage, Laxmi Sargara, came to Kriti seeking help, and her marriage was successfully annulled – a first in the country, setting a precedent for future cases. This also brought national and international fame to Kriti and her organisation.
Not only did she find a place in several record books for the first annulment of a child marriage in the country, her campaign also found a place in the syllabus of the Central Board of Secondary Education.
Once Rajasthan was infamous for the highest number of child marriages in India, but Kriti’s campaign is slowly bringing about a change, especially in Jodhpur, which tops the list in the country for the most number of child marriage annulments.
So far Kriti’s efforts have helped annul 36 child marriages which took place years ago. She has also prevented thousands of child marriages, finding a place in record books such as the Limca Book of Records and World Records India, and the Unique Book of World Records.
In 2016, her name was once again registered in World Record India, India Book of Records and Unique Book of World Records for nullifying three child marriages in three days.
Besides working for the annulment of child marriages, Kriti works for the rehabilitation of child labourers, and victims of child trafficking and child abuse. She also works for the rehabilitation of women. So far she has rehabilitated more than 6000 children and more than 5500 women.
“I face many brutal attacks and threats but I continue working for the protection of girls. Being a woman, I received rape threats several times, but I stood firm,” she said.
At the international level, Pixel Project ranked Kriti seventh on the list of role models, and her organisation Saarthi was ranked 10th in the global list.
With grit and determination, she continues to pursue her life’s goals. | IANS