It was one of the worst moments of Durga’s life: the morning her father suddenly announced that in about a week’s time she would have to get married.
She was 15 years old. Her husband-to-be was in his 40s, had barely been to school and had a reputation as a heavy drinker. Even by the standards of their village in Northern India — where child marriages are still commonplace — this was a singularly bad match.
“I told my father, ‘I won’t do it,’ ” Durga recalls. “Papa said, ‘No, you have to. Then my grandparents came in the room. And they said, ‘You don’t have a choice. Everyone gets married like this. You’re not special.’ ”
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