West Bengal School Teacher Stops Class X Student's Wedding

What does a devoted teacher normally do? Guide the students and help them achieve success? But Chandan Kumar Maity, the headmaster of a school in Mathurapur, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, went out of his way to thwart the wedding of a class-X girl of his school. The girl's father had resisted his move but the headmaster was determined enough to convince him.

The headmaster had received the news of the girl's impending marriage from one of his former students who was going to attend the wedding. On being told the name of the bride, the headmaster immediately recalled that she is his school's student. He knew her as a meritorious student who had consistently maintained a very good academic record. She was also scheduled to appear in next year's board exams.

"This is the fifth child marriage I have stopped this year and the 10th one in the last three years,"- Headmaster

Maity then resolved to stop the marriage. He went to the girl's house and told her father that he would inform the cops if he did not stop the marriage. The wedding was later called off.

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Increasing cases of child marriage

The headmaster, however, pointed out the high incidence of child marriages in his area.

"This is the fifth child marriage I have stopped this year and the 10th one in the last three years. All the girls who were being married off were students of my school," said Maity.

He added, "Incidents of child marriage are on a rise in villages in and around Mathurapur."

The local administration has assured that it is initiating several awareness campaigns aimed at preventing child marriage.

Child marriage is a major problem in our Indian society. However, teachers like Maity who are striving to help girls complete their education deserve a lot of praise. It is because of these Good Samaritans that we can hope the social issue of child marriage gets eradicated soon.

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