A 14-year-old girl from a remote village in Malda mustered the courage to halt her own marriage with the help of friends and the headmistress of her school a week ago.

On Wednesday afternoon, officials of the Malda district secondary education department, along with the Ratua 2 block development officer and the officer-in-charge of Pukhuria police station, reached Maharajpur Kefatuallah High School to felicitate the Class IX girl.

The school is around 25km from here.

Nabida Anjum, headmistress of the co-educational school that has 1,600 students, was delighted.

“Most of the people of her area are financially underprivileged farmers and day wage earners. Such an area is considered to be a 'red alert' zone in terms of underage marriage," said Anjum.

On the evening of September 3, Anjum was caught by surprise when she found the girl helplessly waiting near her residence, with three classmates.

"I spoke to them and learned that the girl's parents were about to marry her off on the same evening. The girl, who is the eldest of four children, told me that the marriage was being fixed without her consent, and she wanted to study further,” said the teacher.

Anjum promised the girl all help and spoke to her parents, who agreed to cancel the marriage.

“But their actual plan was to shift the wedding venue and solemnise the girl's marriage late that night," the headmistress added.

Realising their plan, Anjum contacted Shekhar Sherpa, the Ratua 2 BDO. Sherpa, in turn, communicated the matter to Mrinal Chatterjee, the officer-in-charge of the Pukhuria police station.

The administration and the police intervened, and the marriage was finally called off.

Sources said the girl from a minority community first shared her crisis with the 'Kanyashree Club' members of her school and told them that she would go against her family’s decision. Then she knocked on Anjum’s door to find a way out.

“Her courage is splendid. Even though we think a hundred times to oppose our family members, she did so boldly in the interest of her education. The girl has become an inspiration not only to other girls of my school but also to the entire locality," the proud headmistress said.

Banibrata Das, the district inspector of schools (secondary) of Malda, was also appreciative of the girl. “We are going to recommend her name for the state-level bravery award,” he said.

Das said the girl’s refusal of the wedding hinted that their campaign against child marriage was working in the district.

"It is because of the campaign that the girl showed the courage to oppose her family’s decision,” the official added.