I am no more beautiful. My world is shattered”, says the acid attack victim girl sobbingly to her wailing mother who is standing shell-shocked by the bedside of the victim in the trauma ward of the hospital. “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Your face has got somewhat disfigured but not your soul” are the consoling sentences coming from the trembling lips of the sorrow-stricken father.
I overhear their conversation as lie in the bed nearby, down with dengue. The girl receives some serious burn injuries on the left side of her face. Luckily her attacker does not fully succeed in executing his abominable crime. The words of the doctors tending the wounds of the girl console her further as their team is of the view that her wounds will heal in a few months but leaving her face scarred for life.
Perhaps ruminating over the matrimonial prospects of his daughter the anxious father enquires about the plastic surgery option. But the procedure is too costly to be afforded by the humble family. More tears now roll down over the cheeks of the broken mother. The victim in her feeble voice makes desperate efforts to calm down the agony-ridden mind of her mother. “She is a spunky fighter”, adds another female doctor from the team.
In a short while appears a police squad to initiate the legal procedure. In the investigation they are apprised by the girl’s father that a boy in their neighbourhood is the alleged culprit of this ghastly act.
The stalker spurned by their daughter unleashes this gruesome violence. The police personnel record the statement of the victim and instantly swing into action to nab the culprit who is now on the run.
Lying in my bed, debilitated with dengue, I can not speak much but turn pensive and begin to reflect over the sorry state of law and order in our country where women like her are subjected to the atrocities of such dastardly attacks. In our country though after every elections the representatives of the ruling party claim to be the guardians of the women rights, in actuality our daughters are not safe. Panic alarms begin to buzz in the minds of the parents if their daughters don’t reach back home on time. Indeed the doctors’ observations are correct. The physical wounds of the victim will heal but what about the mental wound that leave lifelong scars? That is a question to ponder over.