Eye-shadow – check
Lipstick – check
Foundation – check
Blush – check
Hairdo – check.
Attire – check.
She looks at herself in the mirror. Now, another checklist. This time it’s within.
Courage – check
Confidence – check
Hope – check
Smile – check
I imagine that would have been the thought process of the women who walked the ramp in New Delhi’s haute couture fashion show this year – the survivors of acid attacks. Acid has known to be the revenge potion of egotistical men – lovers as they call themselves – who wouldn’t accept rejection from the woman they ‘love’. A woman’s rejection rips away their masculinity – an ordeal for our chauvinists. So they rip off her life – a splash on her face. I don’t want to imagine the pain a woman goes through when this potion hits her face. But we should because this is real. So, imagine a spoon of hot water or tea spills on your hand – just a spoonful. What happens? You scream, shake up your hand to cool the burning sensation, run it in cold water, rub some ointment, and are staggered at the deep red burn on your skin for the next few days till it disappears.
Now imagine her face doused with acid. It will never heal, never disappear. It is a horror some live through; some die fighting. The pain is excruciating, unimaginable. Acid attacks are probably the most barbaric violence against a human being. It impairs the body in a gruesome way – melts the face, damages eyesight, burns the skin, and causes breathing problems. Victims have undergone multitude of reconstruction surgeries – as many as 50. The extensive medical treatment is both painful and expensive, often unaffordable. What the surgeries cannot reconstruct are the lives of the victims and families who have to fight an endless battle that demands infinite strength. Shamefully, though not surprisingly, society adds to their battles with its stigmatization, judgement, and discrimination. Beauty-obsessed families distance themselves and employers find a way around to deny jobs. The morale and self-esteem of a survivor of such a vicious infliction is further trampled over, pushing them into psychological distress.
Little has been done to control the rise in acid attacks – similar to all crimes against women. New laws have been enforced to prosecute perpetrators with harsh punishments, control acid sales, and recognize acid attack victims as physically disabled allowing them access to rehabilitation, compensation, and jobs. Considering that there have rarely been any tangible actions against perpetrators and acid sales, these laws barely have any weight. In almost all cases, perpetrators are known people – ex-boyfriend, fiance, husbands, relatives, in-laws. Yet, our law-enforcers fail to arrest, investigate, and prosecute them. The apathetic attitude of the legal system in India towards crimes against women is well-known. As a result, these crimes have become nothing more than statistics that rise every year in shocking numbers, barely affecting the conscience of our society. But the voices refuse to die. Walking head held high with disfigured faces and building disintegrated lives piece by piece, women who are living proof of merciless patriarchy and chauvinism, are up on the podium narrating their stories of a horror right in the face of the society. They will shout and fight till they are heard, till we wake up, till the potion of revenge stops.
