“I'm not just a girl!”
18-year-old Nazia one day found a 15-year-old girl wandering in a city in north India. She was in a terrible condition. While most people would have ignored this dishevelled girl on the streets, Nazia reached out to help her. “This girl was wandering aimlessly in our area. She had bruises on her face, her hair was dishevelled and her teeth, broken. She looked like she needed help,” says Nazia. “When she became friendlier with me, I asked her what had happened. She said, ‘I have parents but they abused me, beat me up and threw me out of the house. My uncle tried to rape me.’ ”
Nazia had watched the Satyamev Jayate episode on child sexual abuse where the helpline for Childline was shown. “We got to know about this helpline which caters to children. I went to the Childline office and told them about this,” says Nazia. “They heard all this and filed an FIR against the girl's parents and her uncle. Now the hearing for that case is going on.”
This incident moved her so much that she decided to alert the NGO whenever she came across such children. “It feels good to help Childline reach out to those who need it. There are so many people who are not educated and especially girls who cannot continue their education.” Nazia feels that what should be available to everyone should not be limited to a few, which is why she wants everyone to get an education and their rights.
The girl who dreams of a better world for everyone has a special dream for herself. “I want to study further and inspire other people to believe that nothing is tough if you decide on it. You can do anything in life if you want to.” On her dream, she says, “I want to be an IPS officer because I want to prove to the world that I'm not just a girl, I am the girl!”