Binbabasini Kansakar, a resident of Hetaunda in the Makawanpur district, was leading a normal life like any other school girl until her 12th grade. But, her life changed after she survived an acid attack by one, later identified as Dilip Raj Keshari from India, in 2013.“He used to say he liked me, a 19-year-old girl, and had even proposed the marriage,” Kansakar remembers, “I refused his proposal, yet he used to follow me everywhere I went.” He would make frequent calls and messages, wait for her on the way to her school, tuition, and way back home.

He then poured water all over her body, but by then all of her clothes were already burnt, as per Kansakar.“Eyes were given the first priority. But, by the time we reached Kathmandu, my face had already become like a football. I was unable to open my eyes and utter a single word,” recalls Kansakar.

Her family had lodged a police complaint against the attacker on the same day, but he had fled from there after the attack. It took police almost six years to arrest him from Simara. He is now in the Bhimphedi jail of Makawanpur as he was handed down an eight-year sentence in 2019.“After some time, their negative talk got into my mind, even when I had done no wrong, the whole society was pointing its finger at me. I then realised the society always blames girls and women for any crime that they have to bear,” she says.

At such times, however, her family became her biggest support. “My father didn’t allow me to get out of my house for a year not because there were talks about me, but for health reasons (to protect the burns from dust and sun),” she says. But, her face had so many marks of the burn that she did not want to show it to the public. For about three years, she kept on covering the face.

“Many people would get scared, seeing my bandaged face, especially during evenings. They used to stare at me,” she remembers, “Many would comment that I was so beautiful earlier, but that used to hurt me a lot. I used to think that society had not accepted me yet,” says Kansakar.

Last year, when the Nepal government introduced a law incorporating the provision of a fine of Rs 10 million and a jail sentence of up to 20 years for the culprits of acid attacks, she felt nice about the state after so many years.

She also observes that there has not been much work for raising awareness on the acid attack. Such issues are only raised, or sensationalised, by the media when somebody is attacked, Kansakar feels.Budhathoki is a correspondent at Onlinekhabar.