Thirteen-year-old girl Pravalika (name changed), who was rescued by the officials in Pamarru town from her grandmother, said that she wished to become a teacher.
Speaking to The Hindu , Pravalika said: “My father abandoned the family and my mother stays away from me and works in a private hospital to feed us.
Vexed with the problems, I even attempted suicide once. I was deprived of parents’ love”, she bemoaned.
Pravalika, a student of Class VII, escaped from the clutches of her grandmother Guna Sundari, who made a vain attempt to sell the girl. “As the girl is a semi-orphan, the government would admit her in a rehabilitation home and provide education to her,” said the officials.
“A few days ago my grandmother fixed my marriage with a youth for a price. In the process of handing me over to the youth, she detained me in our relative’s house.
I want to become a good teacher and help the poor,” said the girl.
Krishna District Women Development and Child Welfare (WD & CW) Project Director N. V. Raghava Rao said the girl was produced before the Child Welfare Committee and would be shifted to a home. “We took assurance from the girl’s family members that they will not take away the girl and perform her marriage until she attains 18 years”.
“It is sad that the old woman tried to earn money by selling her own granddaughter. We spoke with the school staff in which Pravalika was studying and they said that she was a brilliant student. We provided counselling to girl’s mother and grandmother and they agreed to allow Pravalika to stay in the home, ” said Mr. Raghava Rao.
