Four acid attack survivors will run this café in Noida

NOIDA: Seema was a Class 10 student when her brother’s friend and two others hurled acid at her as she stepped out of home at Akbarpur in Ambedkar Nagar in 2016. That was their “revenge” because Seema’s brother had allegedly refused to marry his friend’s relative after an affair with her.
Initially, Seema’s parents were supportive but they gradually started asking her to stay indoors. To avoid exposing her face, she even travelled to Lucknow from her hometown, some 185km apart, all alone for medical treatment.
Seema had to quit school and spend years in and out of the hospitals. “I have undergone eight surgeries and there are a few more reconstructive surgeries planned,” she said.
It was during one such visit to the hospital in 2018 that Seema stumbled on a conversation about the Sheroes (She-Heroes) café in Lucknow.
The Noida-based Chhanv Foundation came up with the idea of opening a Sheroes café, meant to be run by acid attack survivors.
The NGO opened its first outlet in Agra in 2014.The one in Lucknow followed and a third branch was launched in Noida on Tuesday. This is where Seema, now 23, is working.
“Whenever I had to come to Lucknow, my family would make me take the 4am bus so that not many people could see my face. I used to come alone. I got a lot of confidence after I found out about Sheroes café in Lucknow and started going there. I could see the women work there without any fear,” she said.
But it wasn’t easy for Seema to convince her family to let her leave home.
“My family was not in favour… I never liked the restriction and felt suffocated. They also stopped supporting me. The people at Sheroes were welcoming when I visited the café in Lucknow… I’m happy I will now be an employee,” she told TOI on Tuesday.
Two kiosks of the cafe have been set up at the Noida Stadium in Sector 21A in collaboration with the Noida Authority, said Ashish Shukla, the director of Chhanv Foundation.
“This is our third venture after Agra and Lucknow. Four women will work here, and 28 others are currently employed at the other two outlets,” he said.
Khusboo from Gonda and Mamta from Mathura will work with Seema at the cafe. The foundation is in the process of finalising its fourth employee.
On Tuesday, Dolly Singh (21) had come down to Noida from the Agra café to train the new staffers. “The attacker’s aim was to ruin my life and see me in pain. But today, I can say that I have put the past behind me and I’m happy with my life,” she said.
Dolly was attacked in Agra when she was just 13. “One boy used to like me but when I refused his advances, he threw acid on me. He burnt my face, but could not destroy my aspirations and dreams,” she said.
She started working at the Agra café in 2015. “My face was covered when I first went to Sheroes. There were other girls like me who asked me to remove the covering and told me never to be ashamed.
‘The attacker should cover his face, not you’ – they said. I have never covered my face since.”
For the 21-year-old, her goal is to support her family who stood by her. Her father is a painter and her mother cooks in houses. “I used to cry a lot but now, I know I am not alone. I can be happy and focus on the future,” she said.
The NGO said it was important to make the survivors self-reliant. “There are stringent laws against the perpetrators of such attacks and compensation is given, but that may not be enough. Dignity and a job fights the main aim of the attackers, who want to see their victims live in pain and ignominy,” said Alok Dixit, the founder of Chhanv Foundation.