A gory and mauled face stares back when one speaks to Sonali Mukherjee. She is an acid victim, folks! The girl who has faced immense trauma in her life in the past has graciously walked the ramp for an NGO called Beti, to raise funds for acid attack victims similar as her.
Acid attack on Sonali
She may have faced the most gory moments as she suffered under the acid fumes but thousands rushed out to help her in her time of need and now Sonali gets celebrity “recognition”! The girl walks the ramp with 102 celebrities from the small screen to collect funds for some other similar victims. The NGO Beti plans to touch a figure of almost 20 lakhs to render help to at least two more victims.
In April 2003, Sonali Mukherjee who hails from Jharkhand was only 18 year old, when she was attacked by three of her fellow students because she had brushed off their immoral advances. As Sonali was sleeping on the roof of her house the guys had creeped in and splashed her face with acid. Her face had melted and she was blinded.
Sonali is a fighter
The tragedy left the beautiful girl with a disfigured and mauled face. She was left partially deaf after the incident and ended up partially hearing impaired. Hats off to the girl, because she did not lose hope! She went ahead to participate in a famous Quiz show on television, in 2012. She surprised all by taking home Rs. 25 lakhs as prize money.
Since the year 2003, Sonali has been taken under the knife at least 27 times. There are four more surgeries needed before her face gets reconstructed. Let us keep the fingers crossed that Sonali slips into normal life after these four pending surgeries. There is one hitch Sonali will never get her vision back she will remain visually challenged forever.
Beti, Fashion Show
In support of the NGO , Beti she will walk the ramp for India International Jewellery Show. Sonali belongs to an average family that was unable to afford her treatment; at this time it was Beti, the NGO that sponsored 7 reconstruction surgeries for her in the past year.
Sonali gave her interview and said that the reconstructive surgeries take years of treatment and thus it’s the shortage of funds that render the acid victims helplessness. She states “Walking the ramp is a good way to raise funds for other victims like me. I am honoured to be a part of the initiative.”
By Sonali’s initiative Beti hopes to collect Rs. 20 lakhs that will contribute to the treatment of two more acid victims being treated at Mumbai hospitals. Sonali’s surgery was accomplished in Rs. 22.5 lakhs last year and Anu Ranjan from Beti managed to collect almost Rs. 18.20 lakhs from a similar fashion show that had contributed greatly to the amount required for Sonali’s surgery.
