Patna: There are childhoods that end with the ringing of a school bell. And there are those that end with wedding rituals.For some girls, the change comes quietly. A school uniform is replaced by a sari, books disappear and games with friends give way to household chores. Before they can make decisions about their own lives, one of the biggest decisions of all is made for them.For 34-year-old Sunita Devi, child marriage is not a statistic. It is the story of her own childhood.Sunita was 15 and still in school when she overheard her parents discussing her marriage to a 20-year-old man in Munger. Frightened, she remained silent. She did not know she had the right to question the decision.School soon ended and marriage became her reality. She became a mother at 17. But looking at her infant daughter, she made a promise that would shape the rest of her life.“I looked at my little girl and decided that I would never allow anyone to take away her childhood the way mine had been taken,” she recalls.Years later, that promise grew into a mission. After coming in contact with Parivar Vikas Chandrashekhar Nagar, a child-rights organisation working in Munger and a partner of Just Rights for Children, Sunita learnt about legal protections for children and gained the confidence to intervene.She formally joined the organisation last year and has since helped prevent more than 12 child marriages.“I cannot reclaim the years that were taken from me. But every time I walk into a house to stop a child marriage, I get another chance to protect someone else’s childhood,” she said.In Kishanganj, 28-year-old Roshni Perween carries a similar story of a childhood lost too soon.She was just 13 when she was married to a 40-year-old man. Her marriage lasted two years. By 16, she was divorced and had a young son.“I was very young and knew nothing about life after marriage. My husband forced himself on me and I was shocked to my core,” she says.After escaping the abusive marriage, Roshni returned to her parents but faced stigma and rejection. She struggled for years before deciding she had to work to support herself and her son.In 2018, she joined ChildLine India Foundation, where she encountered children facing dangers she understood all too well. A turning point came when she helped rescue nine children from trafficking with the support of the local administration.“That is when I decided I would work towards saving children from child marriage and trafficking,” she says.After leaving ChildLine in 2021, Roshni joined Save the Children India and moved to Khagaria to work in child protection. She has since helped prevent more than 70 child marriages across Bihar.In 2024, she started Janta Express Welfare Foundation for the welfare of girls and women and has helped make more than 100 women self-reliant.“In every panchayat, we have an adolescent group, which helps track and intervene in child marriages,” she said.