Sunita Chidimar, who was given a child marriage at the age of five, says - 'Child marriage is hell.' A family of parents, four sisters and one brother. Being the eldest daughter, Sunita's father got her married at a young age. Nine years later she went to her husband's house (in-laws) as per the 'gauna' custom. Class 10 studies stopped midway.

In-laws were - mother-in-law, two brothers-in-law, Nanda and Jethan-Jethani. Sunita Miley was daughter-in-law. When I was sent to my husband's house, the days of struggle began. What should a 14-year-old girl do in someone else's house,' Sunita said, 'She had to get up at 3 in the morning and take a bath. The cloth should cover the entire face. And the responsibility of cooking for a large family by 8 o'clock.'

She became pregnant. Husband Vikram was 15 years old. As the baby grows in the womb, it is separated by segmentation. Sunita of Nepalganj-12, Chidimar toll remembers, 'There was nothing to earn when separated from home. We starved for five days, drinking only water. Life felt like hell. I sold my wife, the old man bought food with that money.' 

When she gave birth to her son Narayan in 2062, Sunita could not bear the pain of childbirth. The bladder and bowel were ruptured inside the stomach. The dirt also got into the baby's mouth and the baby's throat was blocked. "Maiti's parents took him to a nursing home, there was no doctor in the ICU, they called me from another hospital, I fainted during the operation," says Sunita, "My son was taken from the nursing home to another hospital. The son was not able to breathe. The doctor said that he should be put in the ICU within 15 minutes.'

That same son Narayan is now 17 years old. Sunita lasted 35 years. Son is studying in class 11 and Sunita in class 12. She started her interrupted studies from 2079. Passed class 10th from Kohalpur High School. She says, "I am studying sociology in class 12 at Narayan Mavi, and my studies are going well." She is making the Chidimar community active in the campaign to stop child marriage. The women of the village also work as community health volunteers. A dead person does not come back and tell about the experience of heaven and hell, but according to what I have experienced, child marriage is hell. I don't know what it will be like after death, but I suffered hell while I was alive,' she says, 'The problems that we have suffered, the next generation should not suffer.' She got a chance to tell about herself. Only on Tuesday, the 'Child Marriage Free Nepal National Campaign' was also announced. Prime Minister Oli has expressed his commitment to make the campaign a success. Prime Minister Oli made this commitment in a meeting with child campaigners led by the National Child Welfare Council (NCRC) at the Prime Minister's residence in Baluwatar.

  All three levels of government and concerned agencies have made a collective commitment for the child marriage free campaign that started with the slogan 'Investment in children: the beginning of a secure future'. Stakeholders have signed the 'Commitment 2081 of the Child Marriage Free Nepal National Campaign'. In the

commitment, it is mentioned to be active in the national, provincial and local campaign against child marriage, to punish those who commit and commit violence and crime against child marriage, to actively participate in the campaign to prevent child marriage from taking place near them, to conduct child awareness programs and commit to it. 

Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens Navalkishore Shah said that because child marriage cannot be stopped only by making laws, initiatives should be taken from all levels and levels. "Until there is coordination between the three levels of government, it will be difficult to implement any law," he said. Mentioning the need to work together for this, he promised to move forward shoulder to shoulder.

Child rights activist and world activist and author of 'Just Right for Children', Bhuvan Ribhu expressed his belief that child marriage will end by the year 2030 with the launch of the Child Free Nepal Campaign.

'Child marriage is a crime and sexual abuse of minors under the guise of marriage is rape, it has no place in the 21st century society,' Ribhu said, 'Child marriage must be ended for the future of children.' He said that the time has come to put an end to child marriage.

NCRC has started a campaign to make Nepal free from child marriage. In the 'Concept Paper of Child Marriage Free Nepal National Campaign', it is pointed out that child marriage deprives children of their basic rights, makes them victims of violence and hinders the building of an equitable society.

Article 173 of the Criminal Code, 2074 states that no one should marry a child. It has a legal provision that one cannot get married before the age of 20. In the Children Act, 2075, child marriage is considered a crime and violence against children, and whoever arranges such a marriage will be imprisoned for up to 3 years and fined up to 75,000 rupees.

Nepal ranks 16th among countries with high rates of child marriage in the world, and ranks third in South Asia after Bangladesh and India. As the government has set a target of ending child marriage by 2030 as a sustainable development goal, it is said that a campaign has been launched to make it a success. On the occasion of announcing the

campaign, Sports and Social Welfare Minister of Madhesh Province Pramod Kumar Jaiswal said that child marriage has taken root in Madhesh and it is necessary to reduce it. He says that the problem of child marriage is also due to dowry in Madhesh. He says, "There is a bad custom of getting married at a young age because the expenses increase as the daughter gets older." In the

program, Deepak Dhakal, the deputy secretary of the Ministry of Women, gave a presentation on "Child Marriage Arrangements in Nepal". Social Development Minister of Koshi Province, Panchkarna Rai informed that work is being done by issuing periodic plans to eradicate child marriage. Minister of Social Development of Wagmati Province Hariprabha Khadgi Shrestha said that union, state and local levels should work together against child marriage. 

Minister of Social Development of Lumbini Province Janmjay Timilsina said that work should be done to reduce child marriage based on the need. Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee member Ranjukumari Jha said that despite the government's strategy to work against child marriage, it is not succeeding. She said, "The constitution has thought about the best interests of children. But the lack of law is not working.'

After this campaign was announced in Kathmandu on Tuesday, each province will work on facilitation in the respective provinces with provincial commitment under the Child Marriage Free Province Campaign. Similarly, under the local level campaign, it is said that the local level will work on facilitation until March 2081.