Suneet’s Story: Life of Women in Rural Sindh

I was born in a poor family; hence, we could hardly afford to eat the proper meal twice a day. However, as a girl, I was very fond of wearing good clothes, and this was the only reason that made me feel excited about my wedding day. I thought that finally, I would get the chance to wear an expensive red dress; unfortunately, it couldn’t happen. My father was a spendthrift and careless man, and he never saved a single penny for my marriage.

I am still thankful to one of my uncles, who helped us and bought everything for my marriage. He tried his best to arrange everything, but I couldn’t feel content. Nonetheless, I was hopeful that my life would change after the marriage.

Sadly, the reality turned out to be completely different. My husband scolded and hit me on the first day of my marriage without any reason. He continued to do so for many years, and nobody could do anything about it. My in-laws also started to support him when I gave birth to three daughters instead of a son. Finally, I got pregnant with the son the fourth time, and my in-laws started taking care of me.

I was also excited about his arrival and promised to raise him to be a real man, but I lost my son while traveling to the hospital on a cart on the delivery day. Now, I have three daughters, and I work in a factory with my husband to meet our daily expenses. My in-laws still taunt me and often realizes that I couldn’t even give them one son.

I believe only education can change the conventional mindset of the people of our community. You are doing great work by creating awareness about girls’ education. Please keep it up and never lose courage.