Acid Attack victims braving a photoshoot- Kudos!

August 22, 2014

Humanity stands brutalized by the ghastly deeds of few ‘beast-heads’ have disgraced the entire human race and brought the Heaven down to its knees. The most horrific acts of acid-attacks are taking shape coldly under bright sun. The survivors of the gruesome torture have heart-felling tales to tell, which make you shiver with fear and grief. It is beyond comprehension of unaffected populace to even faintly imagine the physical and mental trauma one is reduced to. Mostly the victims are women who had to pay a price for maintaining their pride and not giving-in to false obsessions of love.
Scarred for life
One drop of heated oil if it lands on our skin, it gives us a burning sensation which stays on for several hours after various modes of home-treatments. What pain she must have borne when an entire bottle of acid was splashed mercilessly on her face or she was made to drink it with her hands tied? There are no words to express that inhumane agony. Fortunately, if she is able to survive she is reduced to but a callus of skin folded and molded in the frame of a human figure. Some lose their entire face, some eyes or some have their complete throats and chest charred. Acid devours eyes, ears, lips completely and can at times also eat into the bones. Tragedy is a word which falls too short for their suffering. The intention of the attack is to maim or disfigure the victim as an act of revenge for not submitting to the flag of male supremacy. Men proclaim to be the superior sex when they are born to a woman, ironical!
Life ahead
What lies ahead for a survivor is no less bad. Apart from intense mental suffering, physical inabilities, she is subjected to severe social in-acceptance. The tryst of torture doesn’t end here. Social seclusion further turns into no means of self-sustenance and the unlucky females are dejected to vicious circles of chronic poverty. Such is the definition of revenge worked out by beasts in disguise for not relenting to the horrid demands of pretentious love.
Violence against women is unbolting and is taking-on serious dimensions every passing minute. Banning the sale of acid is a practical measure which will definitely cap the attacks to some extent but what really need to be addressed are the disfigured and noxious minds. Preeti Rathi case alarmed the soul of entire nation but the culprit is still at large. She succumbed to the injuries of her beautiful dreams which had conspired to make her board that fateful train to Mumbai. The man behind it is still breathing in fresh air only to destroy dreams of yet another woman, somewhere, sometime in future. Many victims in deep-seated villages and remote corners fail to report and embrace the lifeless living without a grudge as that is the only choice they are served with by the cocooned social circles they inhabit. Are men who can’t gulp the idea of woman rising resorting to mangy games and show of futile strength?
Appalling Statistics
The frequency of acid violence in our country where female Goddesses are worshipped is alarming. Every year about 1000 females are brutalized by the mortal liquid. In another incident in West Bengal, a woman was forced to drink acid by family of the boy she loved, where her lover was a silent and motionless spectator to the entire horrid crime. She lost most of the inside of her upper body as the acid trickled down her throat to eat her flesh inside-out. This shiver you experienced is not even 1 spec of the pain she must have gone through and will bear the rest of her life.
This is the sad truth that some men have declined to grow in morals. They want to stretch the feudal thoughts to modern-day woman to suppress and put her back into the cage. When they don’t see that happening, their minds rebel within them turning them to beasts.
Saluting the survivors
Those who experienced this trauma are very brave as they chose to live again. The only thing needed by them is the courage to stand-up and make a place in the cruel world. We on our parts, if nothing more, should address their apathy and share their pain. Turning away from an acid-burnt face is equally inhuman and heinous. This kills them again. Open acceptance and merger into society is what they should be meted-out with. It is time to comfort them and ease their psychological trauma.
Ease her pain, if you can’t take it away,
Let her enjoy the light of the day,
Her body and dreams are though eroded,
The truth of the pretense stands decoded,
To let her up and live with grace,
To repair her faith in the human race,
To wipe the tears from lash less eyes,
To make her strong and revise,
Those good times gone and the new ones on,
Of family and friends she’s lived along,
She is the princess, the ruler of their heart,
It’s not the end, but a new start.
A Photoshoot for a purpose!
Living by these words, in a remarkable show of courage, three braveheart survivors of acid attacks have posed for camera in a photoshoot that has made India proud of these young women. The pictures first posted by an organization which works for the welfare of such victims, have given a new lease of life to these girls as they are now very hopeful and visualize a brighter life for themselves. This happened especially after the pictures fetched them inquiries from some reputed organizations. Rahul Saharan, the man behind the lens has states that he wants to change the way perceives and looks at beauty which is more of an inner thing. His idea to boost the morale and confidence of these girls has been widely appreciated.