Meet Nisha and Munna: Two Indian sisters kicking back against child marriage through football

In Padampura village in Rajasthan, 14-year-old Nisha Vaishnav and her 18-year-old sister Munna were at football practice when they noticed adults taking their photographs. They soon learned the reason — it was a family scouting for a bride for their son.

While child marriage is illegal in India — where girls must be at least 18 and boys 21 to marry — the practice remains widespread. According to UNICEF, 25% of women in India were married before reaching the legal age. Rajasthan continues to record some of the highest rates in the country, often exceeding the national average.

In many households, girls are rarely consulted about their future, and resisting marriage can seem nearly impossible. But for Nisha and Munna, football gave them the grounds to kick back.

Finding freedom through football

A state-wide non-profit, Football for Freedom truly lived through its name for the two sisters. Munna, the elder sister discovered the sport through the organisation which aims at helping girls find better livelihoods through sport. In 2022, a year later, she introduced her sister Nisha to it.

In the village, Munna championed change fighting to get permission to travel to tournaments and wear shorts while playing rather than tunics and trousers. "For the first two to three days, village women would point to us and say, 'Look at those girls exposing their legs'," Munna told the BBC. "We ignored them, decided we didn't care, and continued wearing shorts." Nisha followed in her sister’s footsteps, going to play for the Rajasthan state football team at the National Football Championship in 2024.

No to marriage, yes to the future

In a village where women maintain long hair as a sign of femininity and custom, and cover their faces with veils in the presence of men, Nisha cut her hair short. When a marriage proposal from the family watching them play came, she asserted she was too young to get married and wanted to pursue her career in football.

The sisters also resisted a joint marriage proposal from another family in 2025, which also involved their younger brother. When pressed by her father about whether there was a lover waiting for her at football practice, she said: "There is no lover. I am going to play football - that is my love."

Their resistance is particularly striking given their family history. Their elder sister was married in 2020 at just 16. Their mother, Laali, was also a child bride.

Explaining why the practice persists, Laali said families fear that if girls are not married young, they may be exposed to “bad influences and run away with boys.” Asked whether she knew marrying off her eldest at 16 was illegal, she admitted: "We do it quietly, we don't print a wedding invitation or decorate the house or put up a tent."

Football for Life

Football for Freedom, is a part of Mahila Jan Adhikar Samiti, a women’s rights non-profit organisation which has helped 72 girls delay their child marriage. Padma Joshi, a part of the organisation shared with the outlet that she wants parents and families to know the risks of marrying their daughters young. These include increased risk of early pregnancy, sexual coercion, malnutrition and poor mental and physical health among others.

Joshi revealed that Football for Freedom has trained about 800 girls across 13 villages in Rajasthan since its formation in 2016. She shared that she explains to parents that pursuing football could help their daughters get jobs and a livelihood as Indian states set aside a quota of jobs for sportsmen and women.

A long road ahead

The challenge remains enormous. UNICEF estimates that 1.5 million girls under 18 are married each year in India. Although the law prescribes up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of ₹1 lakh for those facilitating child marriages, unreported ceremonies often escape prosecution and may later be legally registered once the couple reaches adulthood.

Now 15, Nisha attends school and continues to learn football with the hopes of playing for the national team one day. If that doesn’t happen, being consistent at the state level until she finishes university, could at least help her secure a government job and help her become financially independent.

Munna, 19, is still resisting a marriage proposal from her sister’s in-laws. For the time being, she helps train girls under the project and is completing a degree at a university. "Whether I am able to stop their marriage or not, I want to help them become something in life, realise their dreams," she said.

In a village where child marriage was once seen as the final end, these two sisters are rewriting the scoreboard, one goal at a time.