Lailee Begum is the youngest daughter of her parents. Her father is a prosperous member of the community in Khamar Boyali village. Keen to educate his daughters, he tried to defy social norms. But local leaders mounted pressure on him and Lailee was prohibited from going to school after she completed her class six.

Lailee was only 12 when she was married. Her husband Azhar Ali struggled to make ends meet. To support him, Lailee formed the Toroni Mohila Somity, a women’s credit group, and started depositing money. Community leaders frowned on this practice and tried to issue fatwas to prevent her but Lailee was not intimidated. She also applied for a loan at Gono Unnoyon Kendro (GUK) to set up a rice mill. She was able to support her family with the money and soon other women followed suit.

Lailee later began to take part in several GUK training programmes on violence against women, child marriage and women’s rights. In one monthly meeting of the somity, the members decided to aggressively fight atrocities against women. They decided that whenever there was a case of domestic violence Lalee and her fellow somity members would rush to that place to provide counselling. It was agreed that the team would also arrange for a shalish (village courts with elderly people). If the case still remained unsolved, it was agreed that legal aid would be provided to the survivor.

"As soon as my fellow members of Toroni Mohila Somity took a decision to act against violence against women, child marriage, and marriages without registration and to also protect women’s rights, I had to face extreme hostility. People began saying nasty and unforgivable things about me. I was pressured even at home. But I did not succumb to pressure. I knew that one day my efforts would be seen in an impartial and favourable light."

Lailee and the Somity have helped 25 families to register marriages in their families. Lailee has even personally paid the registration fees for three poor families. To halt child marriages, Lailee holds talks with kazis, imams and other somities to convince them to speak out in public against this practice. She had to suffer a harrowing experience when she was slapped with false charges by a relative who was trying to get married a second time. The case was later dismissed.

Lailee also provides information to local health workers on infectious diseases. She is also the president of the Village Development Committee, the guiding force behind some prominent NGOs, a member of the disaster management committee of the Boyalia union and a representative of the local government.

At 47, Lailee is still full of energy and is a well-known face in the community. A mother of seven children, she works with zeal for destitute women and is firm about granting them their rights.