Thursday, 11 July 2013

Rupa

Posted by Stop Acid Attacks On Thursday, July 11, 2013 1 comment
:What is surprising is that it was none other than her stepmother who poured acid on Rupa while she slept in her native village in Uttar Pradesh. It is shocking to hear it from Rupa how she even removed water from around her so that she did not survive. She has been living with her uncle in Faridabad since then.

It is difficult to imagine her pain when Rupa narrates how she suffered living with her stepmother after her mother's demise when she was a kid. She says she couldn't sense her mother could do this to her though she was living in constant fear with her. Her stepmother tried her best to kill Rupa and left her without any first aid for 6 hours until her uncle reached and moved Rupa to a nearby hospital. When the facilities at the local hospital seemed inefficient in providing any relief to the girl, her uncle got Rupa to Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, where she as admitted for the next 3 months. 

Rupa (22), a brave fighter (right) from Uttar Pradesh  with Tuba (15)
a young girl (left) who was recently attacked with acid by her jilted lover.
Rupa has, since then, undergone 7 surgeries and has spent about Rs 8-9 lakh on her treatment. It was fate and her uncle who saved Rupa from dying, but her life still remains quite a struggle in the aftermath of the horrendous acid attack. Her uncle, who owns a barber shop in Faridabad, has no hopes from the government and says it has completely neglected the survivors of acid attacks, without bothering to provide any financial help to them.


The irony remains that Rupa's stepmother who threw acid on her is now out on bail and is living with her father. While the accused is free and happy today, Rupa is struggling to live each day. The innocent girl that she is, Rupa doesn't even know the total expenditure on her treatment so far. Her uncle, who is now under debt after getting Rupa treated at Safdarjung, wants to send her back to her inhuman parents. Rupa does not want to go to her village, and Stop Acid Attacks campaign is with her in this, trying to provide her vocational training so that she is able to live an independent life.

रूपा पर तेज़ाब हमला 5 साल पहले तब हुआ जब वह रात के 2:30 बजे अपने कमरे में सो रही थी। चौंकाने वाली बात तो यह है कि उस पर यह हमला करने वाला कोई और नही, उसकी खुद की सौतेली माँ है। तेज़ाब हमले के बाद उसकी माँ ने पानी या और कोई भी तरल पदार्थ उसके आस पास से हटा दिया था ताकि वह बच न जाए। कोई इतना क्रूर कैसे हो सकता है? सुन कर रौंगटे खड़े हो जाते हैं।

रूपा, बचपन में ही माँ का साया सर से उठ जाने का दुःख झेल रही थी और बाद में सौतेली माँ के साथ रह कर संघर्ष भरा जीवन जी रही थी।  रूपा बताती है कि उसकी सौतेली माँ उसे शुरू से ही पसंद नही करती थी और उसे मारती -पीटती रहती थी। उससे घर के सारे काम करवाती थी। उसने कहा कि उसने कभी सोचा भी नही था कि उसकी माँ कभी यह कदम भी उठा सकती है। उसके अनुसार वह अपने माँ की आँखों का काँटा बनी रहती थी। और आखिरकार 2 अगस्त 2008 को उसने रूपा को मारने की पूरी कोशिश कर डाली थी। हमले के 6 घंटे बाद तक उसका कोई इलाज नही हुआ। ना पानी न कोई और तरल पदार्थ उसके जले हुए हिस्सों पर लगाया गया। वह 6 घंटे लगातार तड़पती रही और दर्द से बिलखती रही। सुबह 9 बजे जब उसके चाचा को खबर लगी, तब वह वहां पहुचे और उसे वहीँ के एक अस्पताल में ले गए पर वहां पर "बर्न्ट सेंटर" न होने के कारण उसका इलाज नही हो पाया और उसे सफदरजंग अस्पताल ले जाया गया जहाँ वह 3 महीने तक भर्ती थी। आज तक उसकी 7-8 सर्जरी हो चुकी हैं और इलाज का खर्च 8 से 9 लाख तक का आ गया है। रूपा के इलाज का पूरा खर्च उसके चाचा ने ही उठाया है, उन्हें कहीं से भी कोई मदद नही मिली। सौभाग्य से रूपा बच गई लेकिन एक असहनीय पीड़ा है जिसे वह सारी जिन्दगी झेलने को मजबूर है। फिलहाल वह अपने चाचा के घर (फरीदाबाद) में रह रही है। इलाज के बाद उसके चाचा उसे अपने घर, फरीदाबाद में ले आयें थे। वही उसके इलाज से लेकर, हर चीज का खर्च उठा रहे हैं। उनका एक सलून है जिसकी कमाई से उनका गुजर बसर चल रहा है। वह सरकार से बहुत ही खफा हैं जो तेज़ाब पीडितो से कोई सरोकार नही रख रही और कोई आर्थिक सहायता नही कर रही। 

रूपा की मां एक अपराधी है लेकिन फिर भी उन्हे उनके गुनाहों की सजा भी नही मिली। वह बस एक वर्ष जेल में रहीं और उसके बाद रूपा के पापा ने उसे छुड़ा लिया। आज वह आज़ाद है और रूपा एक गुनहगार की सी जिन्दगी बिता रही है। उसे तो यह तक भी नहीं पता कि उसके इलाज में आज तक कितना खर्च आया है। उसे बस इतना पता है कि वह एक असीम दर्द झेल रही है। उसके चाचा उसका इलाज कराते कराते कर्ज में डूब गए हैं और अब वह रूपा को दुबारा उस घर भेजना चाहते हैं जिसने उसे यह दर्द दिया है पर वह वहां नही जाना चाहती। स्टॉप एसिड अटैक्स कैंपेन की टीम रूपा के साथ है और उसकी मदद करने के लिए पहल की है। हम उसे व्यावसायिक प्रशिक्षण देंगे जिससे वह आत्मनिर्भर होकर अपनी ज़िन्दगी जी सके है।

1 comment:

  1. Hi Rupa, my name is Beverly. I'm from near New York City and my friends and I go there for concerts, museums, and some amazing history and food :)
    I graduated from a Master’s program a while ago, so I’m older than you and I only use English, and I think you probably only use Hindi, but I was hoping we could be friends. I donated at Indiegogo and now I'm working on coming to New Delhi to visit SAA in the next few months to see how things operate there and how I can help acid attack fighters best. I'd like to build a permanent relationship there and encourage and empower you all.
    Rupa, I am so moved by your experience, courage, and persistence that you are in my thoughts every day and I pray for you and the other young women at SAA. I want you to know that there is someone here who cares about you very much. I think you were heroic during and after the attack, even though I know you don’t feel that way. I see your photo often at SAA events and think you're a beautiful young woman with such expressive eyes. I’d love to see your work and to know the young woman in the photo. It would be really nice to correspond with you and the other young women: I’ll tell you about me, what I do, and about the USA. I would be interested in hearing about your daily life and your plans, maybe you could tell me about India and about what your other interests are, what you’d like to learn if you could take classes at a school.
    I communicate on Twitter as @SnowyEvergreen and Abhilash and Anurag and I follow each other. I comment and Like SAA things from my Facebook and have chatted with Nirjhar on Facebook. I left contact information at Gmail with Suneet and Abhilash. So there are a lot of ways we can correspond, if you would like to. I really look forward to meeting you and the other girls also.

    ReplyDelete

Chhanv

    About Us

    SAA is a campaign against acid violence. We work as a bridge between survivors and the society, as most of the victims of this brutal crime, which is much more grave in its impact than a rape, have isolated themselves after losing their face. Due to ignorance of the government and civil society, most survivors find no hope and stay like an outcast, in solitude. SAA aims to research and track acid attack cases and compile a data to get the actual situation of survivors.

    Our Mission

    We work with partners and stakeholders towards elimination of acid and other forms of burn violence and protection of survivors' rights. The process of justice to an acid attack victim remains incomplete until she gets immediate medical, legal and economic help, along with the critical social acceptance. Our vision is to free India from this crime, which reflects the flaws of our patriarchal society and abusive attitudes. We want survivors to have access to fast justice and fight back the irreparable impact of this crime.

    Support Us

    Any amount you can donate to us, no matter how small, will be very gratefully received and put to good use helping acid and burns violence survivors. Your help could help pay for dressings and medical supplies for recuperating patients. A small help could help survivors with vital physical rehabilitation after an attack, including physical therapy and nursing.

    Click this link to donate for a good cause.

    Join Us

    We welcome all the volunteers to come forward and join us in our camping and contribute in whatever way possible. Please visit the Join Us page for more details.