Marriage offer cheers up acid attack victim

Bhubaneshwar: The “painful tragedy” she encountered nine years ago became a thing of the past for this determined acid attack survivor. Pramodini Raul of Kanakpur area in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district is today all smiles and has started her life afresh.

In 2009, tragedy struck Pramodini, who was then a 16-year-old. She was pursuing  higher secondary in a college at Tirtol and never thought Sontosh Vedanta, a paramilitary jawan, would attack her with acid for turning down his marriage proposal and blind her for life.

Pramodini found a ray of hope when Saroj Sahoo, a medical representative, in 2014 proposed to marry her. “I never thought someone would ever come forward to marry a girl like me. I thank god for giving me a godlike personality such as Sahoo,” said Promodini. The couple solemnised their ring ceremony at Lucknow on February 14 — Valentine’s Day — and plan to tie the knot in 2019.

Currently, Pramodini is working with, New Delhi. She has now decided to return to Odisha and launch a hospitality business chain. 

For Mr Sahoo, it was a conscious decision to pick her as his life partner despite his family’s opposition. “I tried to convince my family members that I want to bring some cheer in Pramodini’s life. After persistent efforts, they agreed and gave the green signal,” he said.

Social activist Subhashree Das played a vital role in cementing the bond between the two families. 

Mr Sahoo’s love and sacrifice will serve as an example for other youths who want to do their bit to bring cheer in the life of acid attack survivors and other girls in distress. 

Soon after the 2009 attack, Promodini’s miseries had multiplied when the police, instead of acting on her complaint against the paramilitary jawan, closed the file in 2013.

Thanks to persistent efforts by Ms Das, including taking up the case with chief minister Naveen Patnaik and gathering evidence,  the Jagatsinghpur district police in August 2017 was forced to reopen the case. 

Acting on a specific information, a police team visited Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir where the accused, Vedanta, was posted. But he reportedly fled and hid in Kolkata, from where he was finally arrested.