Anti-child marriage crusader, graveyard worker among 20 women honoured

BENGALURU: A

tribal woman

who prevented child marriages in the Jenu Kuruba community in Mysuru, a widow who took up her husband’s work at a graveyard after his death and has overseen the burial of over 40,000 bodies, and a young woman who started a school for intellectually challenged children were among the 20 individuals honoured with the Kittur Rani Chennamma Awards on

International Women’s Day

.


Six institutions and eight

Streeshakti groups

were also awarded by the women and child welfare department for their exemplary work.

Vanaja Poova Poojari, who works as a security personnel at Beedana Gudde graveyard in Udupi, has been known for her dedicated service for the past 27 years. Vanaja was pregnant when her husband died, and she took up his job to support the family. Asked if she ever feared dealing with dead bodies, she told women and child welfare minister Jaimala Ramachandra: “The graveyard is the domain of the dead and is safer than the world outside.”

Janakamma was honoured for her work towards betterment of the Jenu Kuruba tribal community. Her efforts to provide basic services to tribals in the forests of Periyapatna near Mysuru and prevent child marriages were lauded. “I got married at the age of

12. Such early marriages have led to maternal deaths. Now, girls in our community don’t marry before they are 18 and people have understood why we oppose child marriage,” Janakamma told TOI.

A group of children with intellectual disabilities was ecstatic when their teacher and founder of Karunamayi Foundation, Soumya, from Mysuru walked up to the dais to receive the award.

Addressing the audience, Jaimala said anganwadi workers, Streeshakti groups and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) are the major women forces contributing to the state’s development. “Women’s Day has to go beyond wishing one another. Speedy disposal of cases pertaining to women’s exploitation is the need of the hour,” she said.

Among the awardees, actor B Saroja Devi recalled her titular role in Kannada film Kitturu Chennamma. “I was just 16 years old when I played Kittur Rani Chennamma, who opposed the British rule. My dialogues from the film are commonly used by schoolchildren for monoacting performances, which thrills me even today,” she said.

Mahila Dakshata Samiti and Swathi Mahila Sangha, both from Bengaluru, were among the institutions honoured.