I’m a 31-year-old woman from India, born into a poor rural family where being a girl was considered a curse. From the moment I took my first breath, my father and his relatives made it clear that I was unwanted because they had been hoping for a son.

My mother cared about me, but she was powerless in a world that always bent to my father’s will. Being the second daughter only made things worse. My father believed daughters were burdens something to get rid of as soon as possible.

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My older sister was married off at 18 to a man fifteen years older than her, a man who would become the source of her misery. He beat her, abused her, and treated her like a servant. No one from our family except for my mother and me ever went to visit her.

Two years later, she died during childbirth at just 20 years old. I can still remember her funeral. My father didn’t shed a single tear. He just stood there, cold and indifferent, as if she was never his child at all. To him, she was just another unwanted girl who fulfilled her “purpose.”

After my sister’s death, things got worse for me. Two years later my younger brother was born, and suddenly all the love, care, and money in the family went to him. My father decided that the only way to support his new son was to “get rid” of me too. My mother didn’t fight him she agreed that I was an unnecessary burden. They didn’t want to waste what little money they had on a girl who didn’t matter.

So when I was just sixteen, my father arranged my marriage to the same man who had destroyed my sister’s life. I knew what my future would look like if I stayed. A week before the wedding, I made the hardest and most terrifying decision of my life. I packed a small bag, took some money, and ran away in the middle of the night.

Life on the streets was brutal. I slept at train stations, worked small jobs in shops, and faced harassment almost every day. People took advantage of my desperation. I met others like me homeless, abandoned, trying to survive. We formed a small group and shared what we had. I somehow managed to finish my 12th grade with an average score while juggling multiple jobs.

At one point, I fell into the wrong crowd. Out of desperation, I got involved in small illegal activities. Nothing violent or major, but still things I regret deeply.

I was young, scared, and hungry. I wanted quick money, but it made me feel dirty inside. Eventually, I applied for a scholarship exam and passed with a good score that moment changed everything.

I left that dark phase behind and focused on building a new life. I worked hard, studied, and eventually graduated from college. Today, I have a modest job in the private sector. My salary isn’t great, but it’s enough to cover my rent, food, and basic needs. I live in a small rented room it’s not much, but it’s mine. For the first time in my life, I’m independent.

Sometimes I still feel lost. I don’t know what’s next for me, and I often question my purpose. But when I look back at where I came from from almost being sold into another abusive marriage to surviving alone on the streets I remind myself that I’m stronger than I ever believed. I may not have a perfect life, but I have a chance to shape it now. I have my freedom, my dignity, and a future that belongs to me.

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