At just 13 years old, a young girl from Tiyapara village in Patuakhali’s Kalapara upazila finds herself trapped in a nightmare.
The small girl from Tiyapara village became the victim of her father’s debt – Tk40,000 and interest, borrowed from Shipon Hawlader, 42, to cultivate their land.
"For the past month, Shipon Hawlader has been threatening my uncle in various ways, claiming Tk40,000 has turned into Tk4 lakh, by forging documents. He has even tried to send people to take me away. I am so scared I can barely leave the house. I cannot even go to school properly,” she told Dhaka Tribune.
“I live in constant fear of what might happen. Please help me. I want to finish school and get a job. Help me live a peaceful life."
The girl’s father said that four months ago, he borrowed the money through his sister Jahanara from Shipon of Baliatali union in Patuakhali.
When the repayment deadline approached and he could not pay, the pressure for repayment intensified.
In the first week of February, the girl's aunt, Jahanara, took her with her and then brought her to a lawyer’s house in Kalapara.
There, under threats to kill her parents, she was forced to marry Shipon.
The girl said: "After I got home from school, my aunt told me to pack my bag because we were going to visit her house. She then took me to a lawyer’s house. When they threatened to kill my parents, I felt I had no choice but to agree to the marriage.
“But right after the marriage, I called my brother-in-law and told him everything. He came with people and brought me back to my village home."
‘He has a daughter my age’
The girl added: "This man is four times my age. He already has a family. His wife is still alive and he has a daughter my age. I will not live with this man under any circumstances. Since I told him that, he has been sending people to take me away. When he could not reach my parents over the phone, he started calling my uncle. Now he has forged a document, claiming the Tk40,000 has become Tk4 lakh and is using that to intimidate us."
Her mother said: "The Tk40,000 debt has now become Tk4 lakh. Where will we get that kind of money? I do not know what to do. For just Tk40,000, my daughter’s life has been stained. She cannot go outside, cannot go to school. I see other girls her age happily going to school, and I just watch and cry. What else can poor people like us do?"
Confined at home
The girl, who had just enrolled in fifth grade this year with dreams in her eyes, has now stopped going to school.
Out of fear and trauma, she is almost completely confined to her home.
She said: "Not long ago, I used to play with friends and go to school. Now I cannot. Nobody wants to talk to me the same way anymore. Even when I go to school for a day or two, everyone avoids me. My old friends do not talk like before. It hurts, but what can I do? I console myself by saying maybe this was my fate."
Her father said: "We are now trying to annul this marriage and get her out of it. If we can do that, I will help her finish her education and get a job so that she can earn and live independently."
Steps taken by local administration
Kalapara Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Rabiul Islam told Dhaka Tribune: "We are taking action regarding this matter step by step. First, we addressed the crime of child marriage through the police and the local chairman. Now we are exploring how we might be able to support the girl's education.
“The upazila council has limited opportunities for direct financial support, but we are trying."
Patuakhali Deputy Commissioner Abu Hasnat Mohammad Arefin told Dhaka Tribune: "This is a very disgraceful incident. The child has been wronged, and action will definitely be taken."
What child rights activists say
A recent report titled “Girls Goals: What Has Changed for Girls? Adolescent Girls’ Rights Over 30 Years,” released jointly by Unicef, UN Women, and Plan International on International Women’s Day, highlighted the prevalence of child marriage in Bangladesh.
Despite significant progress in women’s development, the rate of child marriage in the country remains high, the report said.
Bangladesh ranks eighth in the world and first in Asia for the highest number of child marriages, it added.
According to the report, 51.4% of women aged 20 to 24 in Bangladesh were married before the age of 18. Among these, 24% had children before turning 18.
Moreover, in 2024, 28% of girls aged 15 to 19 experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner, as per the report.
Only 59.22% of girls are able to complete education up to the secondary level, it said.
The report stresses the need for significant efforts from the government and stakeholders to achieve the 2030 SDG targets related to girls’ education.
Unicef representative to Bangladesh, Sheldon Yett, said: "Ensuring access to life skills and digital education is important, but so is tackling child marriage and violence against girls and women.
“These lead to dangerous early pregnancies and often result in the deaths of young mothers and their babies."
