India's Campaign on Wheels
against Child Marriage
In India, when a bride enters her new home for the first time, she is welcomed with an Aarti. It is a ritual of devotion and celebration.In Khordha district, Odisha, that same ritual was performed in a way few could have imagined.
Women dressed in coordinated blue sarees gathered to welcome the Bal Vivah Mukti Rath, a vehicle decorated like a bride. The women welcomed the vehicle with an arti. Through the language of their own traditions, they transformed a symbol of marriage into a declaration of protection. They made a public commitment to protect their daughters rather than marry them off.
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The Bal Vivah Mukti Rath is a flagship initiative of Just Rights for Children, and has reached 439 districts in 24 Indian states. In one of the districts in Odisha, its arrival brought the community onto the streets: motorcycle and scooter rallies, a women led march for a Child Marriage Free India, street theatre portraying the reality of a child bride, and a public pledge ceremony led by a local religious leader. They supported the campaign’s message that child marriage is a crime, and ending it in this generation is necessary and possible.
As the Rath moved through the community, a song played. It was written by Dr. Benudhar Senapati, Project Director of JRC partner Ruchika Social Service Organisation, and sung by three women grassroots activists working on the front lines against child marriage.
Dr. Senapati has spent decades working with children living on railway platforms, streets, and in the slums of Odisha. The song carries his life's mission in a few lines:
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"We live for Odisha and stand to protect her daughters. Do not take the doll from her soft hands and force a bridal crown upon her. Let her see the world and live with dignity. Let us awaken our humanity and ensure her safety."
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Dr Benudhar Senapati, Project Director,
Ruchika Social Service
“Child marriage is not a cultural complexity to be navigated. It is a fundamental violation of human rights that disproportionately affects girls, robbing them of their childhood, education, health, and future potential."