Three days ago on May 5, Golla Srilatha of Basvapur village in Pulkal mandal got married with Kumar. A girl getting married is nothing new.
But a large number of people coming from far-off places and extending assistance and offering gifts to the newly wed couple is interesting.
Representatives of ‘Save the Girl Child’ led by Jails department officer Nawab Shiva Kumar Goud, District Rural Development Officer Ch. Srinivas Rao, Junior College Principal Kalinga Krishna Kumar, and famous doctor Chakrapani came forward and offered a cash gift of ₹1 lakh to the newly wed couple on May 5 blessing them to settle in life.
Rohit Kulkarni, a village officer from Haridaspur village, famed into news in saving the girl child and organising their birth as festival, offered gold ear rings to Srilatha. Panchayat secretary from Indrakaran had offered silver pattis. Youth in the village had offered a cash of gift of ₹15,000 to newly wed couple.
All this magic of so many people coming forward, attending the marriage of a girl in a remote village and offering her gifts happened after they came across about the commitment of Srilatha about two years ago when she refused get married despite suggestions by relatives and would instead take care of her brother Prashanth who had completed 10th class then. Her worry was that once she gets married, there will be no one to take care of Prashanth.
Srilatha and Prashanth lost their parents - father Mallesham in 2016 and mother Suguna in 2019. They literally lived in makeshift house made with iron sheets and this was reported in the media. Responding to their fate and to the commitment of Srilatha, many have responded and got a new house constructed for the siblings. A Good Samaritan had offered ₹50,000 followed by Lakshmi, a Telugu woman settled in Gujarat, A Raghu of Winners Foundation, representatives of Save the Girl Child, an NGO, came forward and got the new house constructed in June 2021. This was reported in these columns.
After two years added a few more Good Samaritans, the marriage of Srilatha was performed on a grand scale. Prashanth was offered a job a private firm and he is working now.
“Its a great satisfaction to become a tool in performing a good job. So many came forward voluntarily and extended assistance to Srilath impressed with her commitment. This is the other face of society,” S. Rajender, a journalist, who reported the fate of the siblings, told The Hindu.
