A little over a year ago, 21-year-old Jenny Khadka’s husband threw acid on her because she ran away from him. She had had enough of his abuses. Jenny suffered 20 percent burns, and spent two months in the hospital where she underwent nine surgeries. 

At one point, she confesses, she even thought of ending her life. It would be so easy to jump off the hospital building, she recalls thinking. She couldn’t bear the thought of the additional financial burden her mounting medical expenses would put on her family. 

“When I had recovered a bit, I wanted to go home. But I couldn’t. My family didn’t have money to get me discharged,” says Jenny. 

Fast forward a year and Jenny is home and has largely come to terms with what has happened. Her case still hasn’t gone to trial and she is awaiting justice. Yet, she claims to be in a better place, at least mentally if not physically.

“The physical scars will never fade. They will always remind me of that horrible evening when life changed forever,” she says. 

But Jenny is determined not to let that one incident, however horrifying, dictate the course of her life. Today, she is actively working on burns-related awareness programs through Sagun, an institute for social research and action. She dreams of joining college and maybe being able to speak German one day. 

Rumi Rajbhandari, founder of Astitwa Nepal, a non-profit organization that works on acid and burn violence, says Jenny is one of the strongest survivors she has seen to date. 

“Most burn survivors take years to accept what has happened to them but Jenny has been quick to move on. She wants to work towards a brighter future,” says Rajbhandari. 

And indeed, Jenny says her biggest regret in life would be if she let her past affect her future. So, she tries to lock the bitter memories in a corner of her mind and move on, however difficult that might be at times. 

For the full story: https://theannapurnaexpress.com/news/the-unflagging-spirit-of-a-young-acid-attack-survivor-2721