Beginning my new life
The old me only exists in memory.
Hey there! I’m the new Aarati, living happily despite the scars from an acid attack.
And I’m navigating paths with my daughter, Riya.
You might have seen Aarati Sah’s burnt face in a newspaper when her husband attacked her with acid. Imagine a burning sensation rippling across your skin, the panic and realization that the liquid covering your face was acid.
She ran out of her house and asked for help, but nobody helped her. Eventually, a shopkeeper gave her a cloth to cover her face. She used it and went to the hospital in a rickshaw.
Her husband was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Because of this, her in-laws aren’t helping her get citizenship and her daughter’s birth certificate. Now she is dealing with the emotional and physical turmoil of the attack.
“This is my new life. I’m rising again like a phoenix, rising again from my own ashes” – Aarati Sah
Life has changed now. She is now known as a vegetable seller in her community. Every morning and evening, she sells vegetables in a nearby Pethiya market and raises her daughter, Riya. Since she doesn’t have Nepali citizenship, and no proof of being Nepali, Aarati can’t register her daughter’s birth certificate. She doesn’t want her daughter to experience the same hardship she went through. That’s why Aarati is fighting to get her citizenship and her daughter’s birth certificate for a brighter future.
