AHMEDABAD: Almost six years after a man whose advances she rejected threw acid on her, Kajal Prajapati has resumed her studies and is determined to join the IAS. It took all these years and 27 operations before she could see the world again with one eye, as well as read and write.
“I turned down the proposal because I wanted to study and then he ruined my life,” said the acid-attack survivor. On February 14, 2016, Hardik Prajapati, an engineering student, came on a bike and threw acid on her face, chest and arms near her college in Mehsana, Gujarat, where she was a first-year commerce student. Her face was disfigured and she lost her vision.
“My face burned like hell. I couldn’t open my eyes. The doctors at the hospital where I was admitted didn’t think I would ever be able to see with my own eyes again,” Kajal recalled. Daughter of a rickshaw driver, Kajal’s childhood dream was to become a police officer.
“A boy of my caste used to come to my college every day and stalk me. On Valentine’s Day, he placed a flower in front of me and said he loves me. I said I come to college for studies. He left in a huff, and returned after my classes were over to throw acid on me,” said Kajal.
A series of painful operations followed. After the 18th operation, it was found that one eye was burnt by the acid, but there was a possibility she could see again with the other one. “I needed my eyes back. But before that, I had to go through plastic surgery because people got scared at my face. Then, I would get frightened on seeing myself in the mirror,” she said.
Now that she can see with one eye, she is back in her first-year class in college after a gap of nearly six years. “I told my father that I wanted to study again and he agreed. These days I aspire to become an IAS officer so that I would be able to protect other girls. No girl should go through what I had to suffer,” she said.
All that Kajal received from the government was Rs 3 lakh as assistance, while her parents have spent over Rs 15 lakh on her treatment. They had to sell their household items one by one to make ends meet. Though the court sentenced Hardik to life imprisonment, Kajal believes she can never forget what she had to endure.