Geeta’s mother works as a daily wage labourer and her father repairs tyres for a living. They belong to the Regar community. After Geeta completed her class 10 in school, her parents got her married. Geeta was still in her teens.

Geeta’s husband was a suspicious man and did not want her to set foot outside the house at any time. At the slightest pretext, he would hit her and get abusive. Her mother-in-law was violent as well. Geeta protested one day when her mother-in-law raised her hand to hit her. She caught her mother-in-law’s arm and refused to be beaten any more. Infuriated, her husband abandoned her at her parents’s home. Geeta spent two years waiting for him. She heard from the jati panchayat of husband’s village instead. They wrote to Geeta demanding that she leave her husband. They branded her as a ‘bad character’.

Meanwhile, her husband married again. Geeta was constantly urged to agree to a ‘nata’
(an informal marriage without rights where money is exchanged between male relatives). The harassment did not end here. Her father had to pay a fine of Rs 20,000 because Geeta often dressed in salwar kameez instead of ghagra-odhni, the traditional Rajasthani attire.

Angry at the injustice of such allegations and discriminatory treatment, Geeta was determined to stand on her feet and live her own life. She began giving tuitions and working for a finance company alongside. It was while working that she came in contact with an NGO, Mahila Jan Adhikar Samiti (MJAS). The members of MJAS inspired her to fight to get back the dowry given by her father. With their support, she actually managed to recover her dowry from her husband’s home. This was an exceptionally bold step in a society that is bound by tradition.

There has been no looking back for Geeta. Today at 24, she has begun working with women’s groups and has inspired many women in similar circumstances to move out of violent relationships.