Patna: Displaying indomitable spirit, hundreds of victims of acid attacks who dropped out of schools have returned to classrooms again in Bihar to begin life afresh.
All the girls want to move ahead confronting challenges lying in their way.
According to a latest report of the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE), a major initiative to improve educational management information system in India, an impressive 369 victims of acid attacks have got themselves re-admitted to the schools in the past two years.
While 203 acid attack victim girls took admissions in 2019-20 academic sessions, another 166 victim girls got themselves enrolled in the current 2020-21 session, marking remarkable changes in their outlook. A maximum of 36 acid victims have taken admission in Gopalganj district, followed by 26 in Nawada, 24 each in Supaul and Saharsa, 16 in Saran and 14 in Araria, according to the UDISE report.
What is worth mentioning here is that quite many girls have their faces disfigured after suffering severe burn injuries, many of them have their eyes damaged, several can’t even walk comfortably while the hands of some of these victims don’t work properly yet they have not resigned to their fate. Rather, they want to complete their studies and stand on their own feet.
“I want to study further and get a job. I don’t care what other people say about me and my face,” said an acid attack victim girl whose face got completely disfigured due to acid attack. The girl who has tak-en admission in Grade 10 is a resident of Pandarak block in Patna. The victim was attacked with acid two years back for resisting sexual harassment by local youths.
Another acid attack victim who returned to her classroom too wants to fulfill her dream of landing a good job by completing higher studies although one of her hands doesn’t work properly. The victim who was attacked with acid by a boy from her village in Patna’s Punpun block has taken admission in Grade 11.
Education department officials have described it as a perceivable change taking place in the society. “We are happy to see acid attack victims shedding inhibitions and joining the classrooms. This is a pleasant change in the society and everyone should appreciate it,” said Sunayna Kumari, additional state project director (academic) with Bihar Education Project Council.
However, all the acid attack victims are not as heroic and feisty as the 369 girls. Recently, one such victim Chachal Kumari who along with her sister Soman Kumari was attacked with acid by some youths from her village in Patna’s Maner block died, perhaps unable to recover from her shock and adverse comments from the society.
Chanchal, a Dalit girl was severely burnt and her face completely disfigured when four youths climbed on the roof of her single storey Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) house at Chitnawan village in Patna district and poured acid on her. The provocation for the acid attack was apparently her stiff resistance to the overtures of the youth, one of whom, it is alleged, wanted to marry her. Sonam, who was sleeping with her when the attack came, also received acid burns. The incident took place on the night of October 21, 2012.
According to a report prepared by ActionAid, an international non-profit organisation, the most com-mon reasons for attacks on women and girls is the refusal of marriage, the denial of sex, and the sexu-al rejection of men and boys. Most survivors of acid attacks are women and girls.
