Meet Anusha, the girl who escaped child marriage to play rugby for India's U-19 team

Wednesday February 14, 2018 , 2 min Read

B Anusha had completed her Class X last year in Hyderabad, when her family wanted her to get married. The 15-year-old readily agreed, as she believed it was 'normal'. But, fortunately for her, police department and child rights activists heard about it, intervened on her behalf and stopped the child marriage from happening.

One year later, Anusha has been selected to play for India's U-19 Rugby team, and her mother is determined to let her daughter make her own decisions.

Anusha's family is from Kandkuru village of Nalgonda district. After her father abandoned the family, her mother came to Hyderabad with her and her brother, where she works as a security guard.

After Anusha completed her Class X, her mother was all set to get her married as she believed her to be old enough for the marriage. Anusha had loved to play sports - cricket and rugby, but she consented for the marriage without much thought. Talking about that in an interview with The News Minute, she said,

I didn’t object to the marriage. I felt that it was the right thing to do for my family

Image: (L) - Twitter; (R) - The News Minute

But things changed after activists counseled Anusha's mother as she realised the evils of getting her daughter married at a young age and that that marriage isn't an end result for everyone. So, she decided to let her daughter pursue her passion - sports.

With strong support from her and the coaches, Anusha worked hard and got selected to represent India in the U-19 Rugby team. She has also played cricket and excelled at national-level cricket. Talking to ANI about her love for sports, she said,

I started taking training from Class IX and I was later selected for the cricket team and I played for Under-19 nationals in Indore. Currently, I am playing rugby for the national team. I feel very happy and would like to play for international as well