8 minutes agoAuthor: Raksha Singh
Glass transparent face, big black shining eyes, beautiful long nose. Earlier Kunti used to look like this. But now his face is very different. The skin of half the face has come off. There are marks of scorching everywhere. At the age of 17, Kunti’s husband poured acid on her face.
Today i.e. on 25 November, the United Nations is celebrating the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women across the world. On this occasion, read the story of violence and her fight with Kunti. How his face got scorched after the acid attack, people taunted him. But she did not lose courage. Today she is a supermodel and has also worked in Bollywood films.
Married when she was 15, husband used to beat her with belts
The picture is of Kunti’s marriage. She got married at the age of 15. The husband had thrown acid on her.
The story starts from the year 2009. Kunti was 15 years old. His family was poor, so he was married at an early age. After marriage, her husband would come home every day drunk. If Kunti refused to drink alcohol, her husband would shout at her and fight with her.
One night when Kunti said something about alcohol, her husband’s blood boiled. He took out his belt and started beating Kunti. She screamed but the husband did not listen to her. From that day this process started everyday.
Got four paise in the house, so started working
Kunti was fed up with all this. His parents were very poor. She had got married with a lot of trouble, so she did not tell anything in her maternal home. She thought that if she starts working then everything will be fine. Husband will start respecting her.
She was not very educated, so she started doing a small job in a nearby factory. The whole day would be spent in the factory. But still every day at night the husband used to beat her.
Husband suspects that I am having an affair
Kunti says, “The boys used to work in the factory where I used to work. My husband started suspecting that I was having an affair somewhere. He used to abuse me everyday. The matter did not progress further, so I got my husband’s job there as well. But that didn’t make any difference.”
“One day I was cooking at home. He came drunk. Grabbed my hair and dragged me and threw me on the ground. He started beating me with belt, wiper whatever he could get his hands on. This time I could not tolerate it and left home and went to my parents.
The skin of the face started falling like plastic melts on burning foil.
Around 7 in the evening. Kunti was in the factory. When she went out on leave, her husband was standing in front of her. She became happy seeing him. Felt that the husband has come to persuade her.
She says, “Husband called me to a corner. As soon as he started talking, he took out a bottle from his pocket and poured something like water on my head. Before I knew it, the skin on my face began to flake off like foil melting plastic.”
The husband poured acid on Kunti’s head, which burnt half of Kunti’s face. His skin started falling off.
When the friend applied a handkerchief, the handkerchief and his hand got burnt.
Kunti tells that at that time there was so much pain that I lay down on the ground. A friend of mine saw all this. He felt that someone had attacked my head with a stone. He put his handkerchief on my head. Within seconds his handkerchief and hand were burnt. Then we came to know that acid was poured on my face.
There was a crowd of people around. Some people started whispering among themselves, while some started making photo videos. But no one helped me. Only my friend mustered up the courage to call the police.
Police came. We told the whole thing. Me and my friend were taken to the hospital. My husband was drunk so he could not run far and the police arrested him.
We will also tell the further story of Kunti, but before that see this graphic related to the statistics of acid attacks in the country.
There was no money, father sold the house and got my surgery done
Suffering from pain, Kunti was admitted to the hospital. By now half of his face was burnt. She was neither able to speak nor could she see anything. He was treated for a month. When she came back home after treatment, she used to remain completely silent. Neither sleeps, nor eats, nor talks to anyone.
His pain was increasing day by day. The doctor told her father that she would have to undergo a surgery or else she would go into a coma. Father got scared. He tried to arrange money from many places but could not collect much money. Eventually his father sold his house. Kunti’s surgery was done with the money that came from him. He has had a total of 15 surgeries after the attack.
The skin started dripping where the acid fell
Kunti says, “Initially my skin was completely white when the acid was applied. With the passage of time, it turned black. The skin started dripping from the place where the acid was lying.
“Many a times, when I cook food on the stove, the skin starts coming off from its flame. That much skin had to be cut with the blade. Even today there would be many problems in summer. Neither I could go out in the sun much nor could I go near the gas.
When I saw the mirror for the first time, I was scared
Kunti says that when I saw my face in the mirror for the first time after the attack, I was scared. For several weeks I did not dare to look in the mirror. I started living at home. I was so ashamed to see my face that I myself did not come in front of anyone.
My father got very upset seeing all this. He was afraid that I might take a wrong step. I also tried suicide twice but did not succeed. One day my father told me that I should not lose heart. Must get out of the house.
Papa said that I am not the only such girl. There are many girls like me with whom this has happened. If I come out, they will also get courage. I obeyed my father and started mingling with people.
When I went for the job, the owner said – people will run away after seeing you.
Kunti says, “I was not very educated. She was good at talking, so she applied for the job of receptionist in the office and hotels. When I reached there to meet the owner, he said that beautiful girls get jobs at the reception. People will run away seeing you. She tells that not one, everywhere she got the same answer. She got disappointed. Then a friend told him about Sheroes Hangout.
Before telling the further story, let us know what is Shero’s Hangout.
Acid attack survivors run Sheroes Cafe
The picture is of Sheroes Hangout Cafe. This cafe is run by acid attack victims.
We have seen many restaurants. But Sheroes Hangout, is a cafe run by people whom at one point of time people didn’t even want to see. These cafes in Lucknow, Agra and Noida are run by acid attack survivors. The name of the cafe is a combination of Sheroes, She and Heroes.
This cafe works for the rehabilitation of acid attack victims, from their treatment to their empowerment. Also gives a chance to those girls to do job because no one else gives them job.
This was the matter of Sheroes. Now back to the story of Kunti.
not ugly…i think i’m the most beautiful
Kunti tells that she could not find a job anywhere and she had lost courage after hearing people’s taunts. But on the advice of a friend, when she reached Sheroes Cafe, she found many girls like her there.
Kunti went there covering her face. On which an acid attack survivor present there told Kunti that half of your face is burnt, even then you have tied a cloth. My whole face and eyes are all damaged, yet I do not cover my face. This is because the face should be covered not by us, but by those who have done this to us.
Hearing this, courage came inside Kunti. Now even she does not cover her face. She says I am not ugly but very beautiful. I realized my beauty after coming here.
Worked in film along with modeling
Now Kunti does modeling along with working in Sheroes. She says that now people are not afraid, they come near and get selfies taken together. Let’s talk
She tells that she loves modeling. He has also worked with Deepika Padukone in her film Chhapaak on Acid Attack Survivor.
Finally, have a look at this graphic of legal punishment after acid attack.
