It was the year 1998. Rita, a young woman of 22 years, was married off to Gopal Paul. She lived at her in-laws for two years, until the September of 2000.
She was only 24 years old when she had become the survivor of a deadly acid attack.
Time flew and Rita had a good life for the next two years that she got married. One fine day she caught her mother-in-law having an illicit affair with another man.
She did what she felt right. She revealed it to the family members, and bore the brunt of it. Little did she know that she’d be silenced forever for coming out with the truth. To keep her quite, on the fateful day, her husband and her mother-in-law forcefully made her gulp down one litre of acid. Her insides were burned, including her vocal cord. But she was a fighter. She did raise her voice against such a heinous crime. Although she could not speak she gave in writing what she had endured along with the names of the perpetrators—her husband and her mother-in-law.
Today, she lives with her widowed mother and is struggling to make ends meet. Even in such serious economical conditions she underwent treatment at the AIIMS, Delhi, with the help of a few kind hearted people and organizations. However, she can still hardly speak.
Moyna Pramanik
A bubbling young girl of13 years old from Lalgarh, Murshidabadwas married off to PabitraPramanik in the year 1998. The parents had no other option but to give their daughter away because of the socio-economic condition. The most important factor in this nuptial lock was that it was a “no-dowry wedding”, as it was the groom who was getting married for the second time.
At the time of her marriage, she was a class eight student.
Things were good, until she gave birth to a baby girl in the year 2000. The daughter in the family was like a burden and Moyna’s in-law relatives started demanding large amount of money from Moyna’s maternal house.
On denial of the amount, her ordeal became unbearable and finally on 24th of August, 2001, her husband with the help of her mother-in-law and brother-in-law poured acid onher. They did not stop there; they doused her in kerosene and set her face on fire.
But she was a winner. She fought all the odds afterward. Many channels and NGOs showcased her plight and that way she got the financial support to go on with her medical treatment. She filed complaints and was able to get her husband and mother in law detained.
Today, she lives with her parents and most importantly she is now an independent woman who not only earns her own livelihood but also supports her family. She pursued with her education and passed Higher Secondary examination. She is now employed in an open school where she cooks mid-day meal for the students.
Reshma Khatun
After losing her father at an early age, Reshma, a young girl became the only support of her family. She was the only earningmember in the family at that point of time. She chose a profession of singing to earn her living.
After that,the unfortunate incident of acid attack on her compelled her life to turn upside down.
It was a case of rejection. A man offered to marry Reshma, but she refused. He couldn’t accept the rejection and threw acid on her while she was on her way to work. She lost her vision in both the eyes. But she was one of those who are never ready to give up on life.
She fought against all the odds within herself and outside. She had undergone many treatments and most amazing thing is that she has got her vision back. Now she is undergoing computer training programme in Bengaluru. She has bagged a good job in a company in Bengaluru, which has offered her to work with them.
Reshma had always high hopes; we too have it for her. She is absolutely an inspiration, a motivation for those who think there is nothing after darkness. She has proved the fact that there is always ray of hope after the long dark tunnel you are to travel.
Mallika Das (Batasi)
A bright face entered the office and greeted us with her smile. A face which says, “The strength is not the body but it’s all up there, in mind”.
Mallika, called Batashi by the loved once was born in a village of rural Burdwan.
She couldn’t stop herself from helping her family by working from the age as tender as 7 years.
In the process, she had to put an end to her studies. In such a household the parents were unwilling to “carry” the burden of a “girl child” more than a few years and she got married and started her life with her husband, who by profession was a rickshaw-puller. But the real struggle was yet to begin. Within a year she gave birth to a baby boy and did not get much support from the husband in anyway. She had to start earning again. The only capital she had at that time was the “dream”. Without even having a proper roof over the head, she started making sugar-cane candies (batasha) and supplied it to various places.
Life never stopped challenging her, sometimes it was an abusive, addicted husband, who was unwilling to think for the family, and sometimes it was the natural disaster which compelled her to move to PashchimMedinipur (Kharagpur) from Howrah. At first it was a struggle for a roof and a proper meal a day, for which she had to separate herself from her own son, for some time.
Simultaneously, she was playing the role of a Sugar-candy manufacturer, a tea-seller, a house wife, a mother when she started to deliver gas cylinder door to door on a bi- cycle at first. Later it took her to a gas distributer who offered her this job in a broader scale. Not that everybody had much faith on her, but she had it on herself and she did it. She accomplished her dreams. Today she is a proud owner of a mini-door van on which she supplies gas cylinder door to door and most importantly she drives it herself. She loads and unloads the cylinders herself too. With her today she has one or two other people, working under. Probably she is the only woman gas cylinder distributor not only in PashchimMedinipur but also in entire West Bengal.
While talking about her journey, we asked her how she managed the physical pressure of her job. Wasn’t she afraid of the struggle and the society? Her face glowed and she said, “Achieving dream is all about mental strength, having physical strength alone won’t achieve it”. Indeed, we, who love to dream, were inspired. Now she is thinking of starting making the sugar-cane candies again, but this time to train other women. She dreams being an entrepreneur.
Mazrul Islam
A fatal attack of acid turned the life of Mazrul Islam upside down.
Mazrul lived a normal, happy life until due to some financial crisis he was required to take a loan of a huge amount. He took the loan from the perpetrator and kept his gold necklace as mortgage.
He saved up money gradually because he was even ready to pay the interest. When, on the fateful day, he gathered up the required money and went to collect the necklace, the perpetrator refused to return it. Soon a quarrel broke out between them. Mazrul suddenly felt a burning sensation on his face. He writhed in pain until he was taken to the nearby hospital. He was attacked with acid on his face.
Mazrul has undergone several surgeries at the Kolkata Medical College. The 36 year old acid survivor has high hopes for his adolescent children, a son of 15 years and a daughter of 14 years. He wants them to finish their studies and stand on their own feet. With the help of ASWWF he has been able to continue the cost of their studies. But with his operation expenses mounting by the day, he seems vulnerable. He now looks up to God to save him from the misery.
