The 12-year-old girl, who was seriously injured in an acid attack recently, has no clue when she will be back among her friends at school. With a disfigured face and blurred vision, school, at least for the time being, seems a long way off.
She was among the most seriously injured when her mother and three siblings came under acid attack by a man, who once had a relationship with the mother, when they were sleeping in their rented house at Ramamangalam, near here, on the night of January 17. The daughter that the accused had in that relationship was also among the injured.
“She is no longer going to school as she complains of being unable to read with her left eye and that only big letters are visible to her right eye. All of us, including my five-year-old youngest daughter, suffered burn injuries of different degrees,” said the mother who has given up her job as a housemaid to take care of her children.
The sixth standard student had undergone treatment at the Ophthalmology Department of Kottayam Medical College Hospital for almost a week.
“Both her corneas had suffered burn injuries, which had almost healed by the time of her discharge. Unless there is any unforeseen complications, which is a remote possibility, her eyesight will not be affected,” said P.P. Praveen, Additional Professor at the Ophthalmology Department.
An emotional wreck
It is not just the girl who has been affected by the tragic incident as her 15-year-old elder brother is an emotional wreck. “He was given counselling immediately after the incident. But we do not have the wherewithal to continue it. I had sent him to his friend’s home for a few days to cheer him up,” said the mother. The family had since declined to move back to the old place out of fear. They are now staying in a rented house near Piravom and the children have also been moved out of their previous school to a new school.
“The family’s most pressing need now is a safe home, which is being constructed at the initiative of the NCC wing of St. Joseph High School, Piravom. We have already spent ₹3 lakh on the house and needs another ₹4 lakh for its completion,” said P.P. Baby, the NCC officer of the school.
Emergency aid given: Minister
Staff Reporter writes from Thiruvananthapuram:
The Women and Child Development Department has given an emergency aid of ₹1 lakh for medical treatment and other expenses of a woman and her children who were injured in an acid attack, Minister for Health and Family Welfare K.K. Shylaja has said.
She was replaying to a submission by Anoop Jacob, MLA, in the Assembly here on Wednesday.
The Minister said the money was transferred to the bank account of the woman, hailing from Memunda, Piravom, on the basis of reports of the District Women Protection Officer and the District Child Protection Officer.
Moreover, joint accounts would be opened in the names of each of the children who sustained burns in the acid attack and that of the Pampakuda Child Development Project Officer, and an aid of ₹2 lakh would be handed over to the girl, who sustained serious burns, and ₹1 lakh to each of the other three children.
The District Child Protection Officer had informed that directions had been given to the Pampakuda Child Development Project Officer to open the accounts on the basis of the Ernakulam Child Welfare Committee’s orders, the Minister said.