Today's News of India |
States : |
City : |
Cricket: |
World Snap > Cities > Delhi > A beautiful life of Sonali Mukherjee melted away in an acid attack
A beautiful life of Sonali Mukherjee melted away in an acid attack
July 13, 2012 19:55:17 IST
Last Updated : July 13, 2012 20:11:25 ISTNew Delhi : “Main bahut himmatwali thi (I had lots of guts)”, she says looking at you with eyes reduced to unseeing opaque white mottled orbs and her once-pretty face a mass of melted flesh. But acid attack victim Sonali Mukherjee is still a fighter, as she battles all odds for justice.
She was fast asleep on the terrace of her house in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, on the night of April 22, 2003, when she felt the burning liquid splashed on her – melting away the flesh on her face, neck, the right part of her chest and lower torso… That horrific acid attack on Mukherjee when she was barely 18 also ended her dreams of a beautiful future.
“Meri zindagi khatam ho jayegi, pata nahin tha (My life would finish, I did not know,” Mukherjee told IANS.
The three men responsible, including a married man, were held and two of them were even convicted. But they got bail from the Jharkhand High Court. Mukherjee and her father, who has sold all his land and family jewels in her treatment and in legal fees, are fighting to get the bail cancelled, coping with threats from the accused, besides paying innumerable visits to hospitals for her treatment.
Mukherjee was studying sociology honours in a Dhanbad women’s college and also juggling a job with a private firm and was part of the National Cadet Corps when the acid attack ruined her life. She was a very pretty girl then, as one could see from the photographs her father shows the IANS correspondent.
The three men, one of who was in his 40s and one was an 18-year-old, would tail her everyday, pass lewd comments and harrass her.
“When it increased, I decided to protest. I had lots of guts then… I was part of the NCC and was a senior sergeant…I told them to stop troubling me or I will complain to the police,” Muherjee said.
The three accused, who she named as – Tapas Mitra, Sanjay Paswan, and Bhrahmadev Hajra – told her that she had become very “ghamandi” (arrogant) and they would teach her a lesson. She told her father of the incident and he in turn complained to the families of the three men.
Nothing happened for one and a half months. And then the men struck back, pouring acid on Mukherjee as she lay asleep alongside her sister and father on the terrace. “It was 2 a.m., that night. I never thought this would ever happen to me.”
Her father has spent Rs.10-15 lakh in the court cases and on her treatment. They have also borrowed Rs.3-4 lakh from relatives, who are demanding the money back. Her father, Chandidas Mukherjee, who had a menial job in a mill earning about Rs.5,000 a month, has given up his job. He makes ends meet by working as a pujari (priest) in homes.
The youngest of the three men was let off on account of being a juvenile, while the other two were convicted and sentenced by the district court in 2006 to nine year jail. However, they appealed in the high court, which granted them bail.
“In the six years since I have not been granted hearing by the high court,” she said.
Mukherjee said she and her father have met the chief minister of Jharkhand, all the legislators, and MPs, but all she got was “aashwasan (assurances).. nothing else”.
She has also approached the union women and child development ministry and has been assured of help.
Her younger sister, who also suffered acid burns on her hands and feet, was married off early. “We were getting threats and did not want it to ruin her life, so we got her married off.”
Mukherjee has approached Safdarjung Hospital for treatment, but has been told to wait as they have lots of patients, she said.
Her treatment in private clinics will cost over Rs.10 lakh, which she does not have.
Recalling the days immediately after the attack, Mukherjee said all she remembers is waking up in excruciating pain. “I would scream in pain, and fall unconscious.. I was like that for six months…I would tell god to kill me.”
The acid melted her nose, her right ear and some of it went into her ear drum, but luckily it did not enter her brain. She can’t hear from her right ear, which as she shows by lifting her dupatta, is reduced to a small glob of flesh.
Doctors took skin from her thighs and grafted it on her nose and cheeks, to give it a modicum of shape.
“I want justice, or allow me to end my life,” says Mukherjee.
Those wishing to help in any manner can call up her cell no- 9210022919.
Do you like this story? Do thumb up here.
29 Comments
Today’s Match (Q2):MI vs RR : Live Score Updates
Kolkata : Mumbai Indians, losser of Qualifier 1, will… [more]
Ankita Lokhande back in ‘Pavitra Rishta’, co-stars happy
Actress Ankita Lokhande, who played Archana in popular… [more]
Ishkq In Paris Movie Review : 4 out of 5 Stars
Film: "Ishkq In Paris"; Cast: Preity Zinta, Rhehan… [more]
Pall of gloom sets in at Sreesanth’s Kerala home
Kochi : A pall of gloom has set in at the house… [more]
Before typig this comment i had written and erased dozens of time.
Cant really explain the pain and anger i go through when i think of ur misery. Feel extremely ashamed of being an Indian.
Punishments prevalant in countries like saudi Arab is the need ogf the time to curb such bastards.
The lives of acid throwers, rapists, murderers and terrorists should be brought to end by the most brutal and cruel way possible.
:’(
Those wishing to help in any manner can call up her cell no- 9210022919.
my heartfelt feeling are with u . i am soooooooooo proud of u girl that u r fighting all these yrs. U ARE SUCH a BRAVE GIRL… one thing you are very lucky,u have lovable family ..they are always with you.
i feel ashamed to be an indian where is no system no justice no rights for a ordinary people….and criminals are living free…… victims are paying for it
i want to support u from bottom of my heart so i need ur account number , with mailng address.. . May God Bless u all .
kulwinder ji im totally agreed with u some time i also felt the same being an indian i dont have now faith in our indian law and system .from top to the bottom every one is corrupted. some time i feel ki log kehate hain ki arabic law harsh aur rude hai par i think their way of doing justice is the right way . haan but thanks to our media also who exposes every day our corrupted system a
Dear sister don’t worry God see all this i watched it in crime petrol. If there is no solution by anybody in this so called mera Bharat Mahan do one thing any how prepare your self to do same thing what they did to you any how manage to collect 3 dangerous acid bottle and throw it on that bastards and kill them. please u your self only can do this please sister follow it
THE SAME SO CALLED GOD GIVEN STRENGTH TO THE HEARTLESS ANIMALS TOO TO DO THIS KIND OF CRULTIES .please dont put all responsiblities on who/which is not there(if god is there will not allow to happen).we as fellow human should take care victims.
Sister,mai ye kehta hu himat mat harna un ladako ka bhi wahi bure se bura hoga.
Sister,
Only media can help you to get justice. Requesting all media persons to come together and help her in her fight to justice. I am ready.
I read about your story in Himalayan times. you are a very brave girl.you will get justice. God is with you don’t worry.
dont worry dear jo hua use ek bura sapna samjh kr bhul jao…. or apni life ko fr se ek mauka do….. bcoz ye life h yaha pr reverse gear ka option nhi hota…. esliye pichhe mud kr dekhne se koi fayada nhi………. but itna jarur yad rakhna ….. k life me kavi v wo dikhe to insaf k liye kahi mat jana … aapko jo kerna h bs ker dena…… bye tkcre..
i wud like to say that our govt should punish those bastards by pouring acid on their faces so that next time no one dares to do any thng like this. Evn those culprit would tell their stories to others and people like them would scare to do anythng like this to anybdy else
and this sud be publicly demonstrated and media should give full coverage… here where media should play a role.
Sonali mai apse ye kahna chahta hoon ki agar aap apni life khud khatm jab bhi kare pahle un teen daridon ko maut ke ghaat utar dena usi tarah jaise tumAhre saath hua hai…..aisa karne par bhagwaan bhi tum garv karenge aur tumhe koi paap nahi lagega……
Vill-bagaul, madhubani, BIHAR-847228
sonali you are realy brave girl..i have never seen like that brave girl in my life…u r a examle of those girl those feel that they lose everything in there life…..my wish with…and i m. 100% sure that one day i will see this beatiful girl(sonali mukharji). perfeclty fine….god bless you…
media ka bahut acha role rha h sonali ki help krne me…m media se request karti hu ki jitni help wo sonali ko justice dilane me kar sakte h plz kijiye…or un darindo ko iski kadi se kadi saja milni chahiye….