Priyanka Bharti ran away right after her marriage when she was asked to defecate in the open.
Newly-wed young Priyanka Bharti brought about a social revolution by standing up to her husband’s family when they asked her to defecate in the open. And with this, she ensured effective sanitation facilities for women in her village and all nearby villages.
On hearing just one sentence, Priyanka Bharti decided to change not just her life but that of several of her female counterparts. “No toilet at home, so what? We all defecate in the open and so must you,” was said to Priyanka by her mother-in-law the very first day that she reached her in-laws’ house after marriage in Uttar Pradesh’s Maharajganj district in April 2012.
She left her in-laws’ house two days later with a pledge that unless a toilet is constructed she wouldn’t return – something never dared by a woman before.
“It was not possible for me to defecate in the open. So, I decided to run away,” she says.
Ever since she ran away on 13th April, 2012, demanding that her in-laws build a toilet to get their daughter-in-law back, Priyanka’s life changed as she attracted a lot of national and international attention..
As the news of a newly-wed bride running away from her home for the lack of a toilet spread across villages, Sulabh International got involved. The officials at Sulabh heard about her protest and adopted her cause as a way to promote better public health through proper sanitation facilities.
They helped with the construction of a proper toilet in her husband Amarjeet’s house and also felicitated her with an award of Rs. 2 lakhs
Spotlessly clean and decorated with plastic flowers and balloons for its opening ceremony, Priyanka Bharti’s toilet was seen as a gleaming symbol of the empowerment of Indian women.
This, however, was not the end but the turning point of Priyanka’s life goals.
Every day, once Priyanka finishes her household chores, she holds discussions with village women of all ages to spread awareness about the significance of hygiene. As a brand ambassador of Sulabh, she travels across villages such as Chapia and Piparwa, often accompanied by Amarjeet.
India’s Rural Development Minister, Jairam Ramesh said recently that India “should be ashamed” that 60 to 70 percent of women are forced to defecate in the open and he vowed further funding to tackle the problem.
All in all, it’s wonderful to know that women no longer succumb to the irrational rules laid by the society and find strength to empower one another.
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