Paro Devi. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, May 31: Paro Devi has emerged victorious after waging a war on the unhygienic practice of open defecation.

Paro left her in-laws’ home in Sadeshopur, around 35km west of Patna, more than a year ago as no one paid heed to her demand for a toilet at home. Refusing to wake up before sunrise or wait till sunset to relieve herself in the village fields, she left for her parents’ home in Adalatganj.

Hundreds of girls in the country’s rural areas have to wait till dusk to relieve themselves.

Two Dalit sisters aged 14 and 15 were even gangraped and murdered in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, recently when they had gone to answer nature’s call.

Now that 20-year-old Paro has won over the odds in her way and has got her wish fulfilled, her initiative can pave the way for better hygiene standards for women.

For Paro, low-cost sanitation NGO Sulabh International Social Service Organisation came forward to help and constructed a toilet at the Sadeshopur home for Rs 70,000.

It also felicitated Paro at a Patna hotel today. Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak handed Paro a cheque of Rs 1.5 lakh for her exemplary initiative.

The NGO also gave a cheque of Rs 1 lakh to Paro’s husband Alakh Niranjan, a newspaper hawker, to complete his half-constructed house at Sadeshopur. Another Rs 2 lakh would be given over the next two months.

“My in-laws did not have any toilet at home. I had to wait for sunset or wake up hours before sunrise to go to the fields to answer nature’s call. It was extremely awkward and embarrassing and there were times when other boys in the village would follow me to the fields. After I saw that repeated requests to my husband for construction of a toilet was going unheard, I left the house in August 2012,” said Paro.

She went back to Adalatganj to her parents, who not only have a toilet at home but also supported her cause.

In February this year, she approached the Women’s Helpline in Patna and sought a divorce over the lack of a toilet. Sulabh International came to know of the matter and intervened.

Sulabh International founder Pathak said: “It is a rare sight and an eye-opener for society. Paro was trying to get her in-laws to construct a toilet at home for the past five years. She left home when her demand was not met. Toilets can act as a cause of social change and Paro has set an example. It is in recognition of her bold initiative that we have constructed a toilet at her in-laws’ place and the house is also being constructed.”

According to estimates provided by Sulabh International, Bihar has a population of over 10.5 crore of whom 2.19 crore lack toilet facilities. The central government had planned to construct 1.11 crore toilets in Bihar in 2013.

Paro, who has studied till Class VIII, is set to return home once her in-laws’ house is complete.

She added: “I am very happy today as I have a toilet now. I would urge all women, especially those in the rural areas, to raise their voice in demand of toilets. I want to resume my studies and also plan to work as a motivator for Sulabh International and spread awareness about the need for toilets.”

Paro got married to Alakh on November 29, 2009 as a 16-year-old girl. Now, she also has a three-and-a-half-year-old son. Paro said she plans to use Rs 1.5 lakh given by Sulabh for her son’s upbringing and education.

Three women from Uttar Pradesh, including Priyanka Bharti and Priyanka Rai, who also fought for toilets at home attended Paro’s felicitation too. Manorani Yadav from Gorakhpur, who earlier donated her single plot of land for the construction of a toilet, was also present.

Referring to the gang rape and murder of the two sisters in Badaun, Sulabh founder Pathak also said: “If the girls had toilets at home, they would not have met this fate.”