3 years on, acid attack survivor wins right to disability review

NEW DELHI: After struggling for three years, acid attack survivor, 28-year-old Reshma Qureshi, has finally won a hard-fought battle to get the authorities to conduct a reassessment of her disability, taking into account the damage caused by the lethal acid thrown at her more than 12 years ago by her brother-in-law during an ongoing marital dispute with his wife.

A struggle that started in 2023 after her disability was assessed as "low vision" ended in vindication last week, when a medical board, in compliance with Delhi HC's orders, assessed her on May 19. She finally received her unique disability ID card, which has now correctly certified her quantum of disability as 63%, noting her disability as both an acid attack victim and low vision, also a result of the attack. Her UDID card categorises her as "multiple disabilities".

Just 18, Reshma's life changed in a flash when her brother-in-law threw acid at her in Allahabad in 2014. Her left eye was damaged so badly it had to be eviscerated, her right eye was left with limited vision, and her face was severely burnt. With the support from Brave Souls Foundation that works for acid attack survivors, Reshma, now 28 and married, has undergone over 17 surgeries and continues to be under treatment.

Relieved to receive her certificate, Reshma told TOI, "I had to seek the legal route to be heard and seen as an acid attack survivor, but every survivor cannot go to court. The authorities must create a system that is more supportive of survivors." Founder-director of Brave Souls Foundation Shaheen Malik, herself a survivor, said, "While this outcome marks an important victory, it also shows how simple disability reassessment took three years, involved repeated representations, institutional intervention, and, ultimately, the court's intervention, before the survivor received appropriate certification."