Despite a child marriage and then divorce, this 25-year-old is now DSP

Every sincere student dreams of reaching an esteemed position, without fear of the hard work involved. Anita Prabha Sharma, a meritorious student, had the same dream. Doing well throughout her school life, she scored 92 percent in 10th standard. However, she was married off at the mere age of 17 to a man 10 years older than her. Fighting all odds, she has set an example by becoming the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) at the age of 25.

Hailing from Anuppur district in Madhya Pradesh, Anita is the daughter of two teachers. Despite education being important at home, her parents wanted to be relieved of their responsibilities. Hence, they married off both Anita and her sister at young ages. Her parents were educated enough to understand that child marriage is illegal but they still decided to get Anita married at 17.

Since her in-laws were financially weak, they gave Anita permission to complete her graduation. In her third year of graduation, her husband got into an accident and broke both his arms. She was not able to appear for her exams as she had to take care of her husband, and thus, completed her graduation in four years. As a result of this, she was ineligible for the probationary bank officer position.

This did not deter her spirits and she started working at a parlour post a beautician course to earn for her family. During the same time, she faced difficulties in connecting with her husband due to the big age gap between the two.

Meanwhile, Anita decided to take the Forest Guard Examination in 2013 where she completed the 14-km walk in only four hours. She was posted in Balaghat district in Madhya Pradesh in December 2013.

This boosted Anita’s confidence and she decided to appear for the examination for the sub-inspector position. Although she failed the physical examination in her first attempt, she worked on her weaknesses and cleared it the second time, being appointed sub-inspector.

Anita underwent surgery to remove a tumour from her ovary two months before her exam. However, she cracked the examination, defeating even her illness. She was first appointed to the Sub-Divisional District Reserve Police Line. For her training, she went to Sagar after which she proceeded with her divorce.

While the training was going on, her result for the Madhya Pradesh State Public Service Commission examination, which she had appeared for earlier, came out. In her very first attempt, Anita got the 17th rank and was selected for the DSP post.

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