Trigger warning: This story contains mentions of domestic violence, physical abuse and murder

“Abortion is cheaper than the massive cost you will incur by raising three daughters. If you go ahead with this decision, you can maybe even save your marriage,” was the advice a doctor gave Jasbeer Kaur.

Not wanting to engage in such a conversation, Jasbeer walked out of the hospital. “I became a single parent during that 15-minute ride from the hospital to my parent’s house in 1996,” says Jasbeer.

Born and raised in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district to a farmer family, Jasbeer was married in 1995, after which mental and physical harassment became an everyday affair.

To save her family’s name, she chose to stay silent, hoping things would improve. A few months into the marriage, Jasbeer got pregnant with the triplets.

When she refused an abortion, her former husband tried to murder her by pushing her fingers into a live electric socket. That’s when she decided to leave.

Six months later, Jasbeer gave birth to triplets. “They are the best thing that happened to me. I derived energy and strength just by holding them together. I knew life was going to get better,” she recalls.

She then walked out of the abusive marriage and moved to 36 BB village in Padampur district, Rajasthan, when the girls were less than a year old.

There, she took up the job of an auxiliary nurse midwife in a government hospital and single-handedly raised three daughters — Pradeep, Sandeep and Mandeep — braving constant attacks about her failed marriage and unceasing taunts from her community.

But today, thanks to Jasbeer’s grit and perseverance, her triplets are well-settled and educated — Mandeep followed her mother’s footsteps and became a nurse, Sandeep became a make-up artist, and Pradeep joined the hotel management sector.

“She is the bravest woman I know and every day she inspires us to do better. She has gone out of her way to help her patients, especially pregnant women in the hospital,” says Pradeep, her youngest.

Jasbeer remarks, “Main ek kisan ki beti hoon (I am a farmer’s daughter). So being internally strong comes naturally.”