What strikes you the very first time you talk to Sonali Mukherjee is clarity of purpose and a grit and determination that is unparalleled in one so young. What is also apparent is that disfigurement that her body has suffered has only strengthened her sense that justice is every one's right. What may shock you however is her bitterness at the current legal system, which has not only let her attackers out on bail but also cannot with any existing punishment commensurate with her suffering.
"Even if they (attackers) are given life imprisonment they will be eating, sleeping and living in relative comfort. Can that compare with my plight? I am not saying there should be tit-for-tat - I know that will not happen. Only if they are left to live in a dark room, cut off from all others and made to suffer can they understand what I have been and am going through," says Sonali, with a passion that conveys the pain of a nine-year, largely lonely fight.
Be shocked at her views only after you have a sense of what happened to her on the night of April 22, 2003. Seeking relief from the oppressive heat, Sonali, her sister and her father were sleeping in the open on the terrace of their Dhanbad home. The three attackers - Tapas Mitra, Sanjay Paswan and Brahmadev Hajra - stole in and poured acid on her, scarring her sister and father too in the scuffle that ensued.
"At that moment, my world just stopped. All I could feel was the burning and my body melting away. I felt the most excruciating pain and the world went dark," recalls Sonali vividly. Her face, neck, upper and lower torso suffered burns. She hasn't been able to see ever since though her hearing has been restored through multiple surgeries. She suffered 70% burns and her sister 20% burns.
What prompted this devious attack - her objection to three men's weeks-long abuse and their inability to take rejection. Patriarchy reared its head in its ugliest form and three men set out to teach a strong-willed young woman 'a lesson'.
The three were arrested and sentenced to nine years imprisonment, but within three years they were all out on bail, one because he was a juvenile when he committed the crime.
Sonali's fight has been on three levels - her treatment and a drive to be like 'any other woman' (which is also why she refuses to be photographed currently). Second is the legal fight to bring the perpetrators to book. Once she feels her medical condition is under control (she currently has to avoid contact to stay clear of infection and regeneration of tissue is being helped by two 'tissue extenders', one each in her head and neck). The third is helping her family, which has been driven to bankruptcy due to legal and medical expenses.
Needless to say, this will take a lot of grit. Talk to Sonali for a bit and you will be left in no doubt that there's more than enough of that. Added to that is a sharp, alert mind that is not only on top of her medical treatment's progress, but is also looking for new avenues to ease the burden of her family.
"For three years after the attack I could not walk or even get out of bed. The doctors in Bokaro had said that mine was a hopeless case and they could not do anything for me. At that time, my father (Chandidas Mukherjee) carried on the fight. Through all the legal hearings, managing finances by selling all we had, and taking care of me, my father stood tall and strong. That was a dark time for me, confined to a room and I must have lost hope many times. But as soon as I was able to move around, I joined the fight and have been at it despite the pain, discomfort and lack of support from all others I thought I could have counted on," says Sonali.
Her father's support is what she has come to count as most precious. "Once I could move around and took stock, my father supported me without question. Wherever I said we would go - whether it worked for us or not, and mostly it did not - he would accompany me without opposition. Through heat, rain, the cold, through government apathy, threat to our lives and severe financial crises, he has stood by me when I was alone," she says with a palpable flourish in her voice.
In the following six years, Sonali approached three chief ministers, countless legislators, and NGOs, including the National Commission for Women and Salman Khan's Being Human organisation, was either ignored, received nothing more than assurances or just used for media bytes. There were sporadic reports in the regional media in and around Jharkhand about Sonali's fight and slowly mediapersons came to know her and empathise with her cause.
This came handy when on July 9, 2012 she approached Krishna Tirath, minister for women and child welfare and was met with traditional government apathy.
"I went to the minister's official residence and waited for hours. Various members of her staff gave me conflicting reports - she's abroad, she's in a meeting, you need an appointment, she is across town - but continued to wait. Then I called a media contact I knew in Jharkhand (connected with Sahara Samay) who called his Noida office and a few journalists showed up. It was then the staff realised that I was not to be ignored. They called the minister and after she showed up, she gave an assurance that she would appeal to the PM to release money from his relief fund. That's the last I've heard from the minister," Sonali says.
It was then that Sonali laid down two options for the government - either help her financially, or give her permission to die. "This was taken up the media and a lot of people learnt of my struggle. It was a call to bring attention to the apathy that my family and I have been facing. It wasn't that I had given up the fight or lost hope - but I did want to the state to realise its responsibility."
Help, though sporadic, has been coming through from unexpected quarters.
"Ram Jethmalani heard about my struggle and called me over to his office in July or August 2011. Apart from expressing solidarity with my cause and showing genuine compassion, he also helped us financially with Rs 1.45 lakh, which has helped with my treatment.
"After I laid down the options for the government, there has been more attention and help from various quarters," says Sonali.
The BL Kapoor Hospital in New Delhi, where Sonali's treatment is in progress, has offered to help her. Sanjeevani, a Bokaro-based organisation has come forth as has Foundation Beti, the latter helping her with Rs 30 lakh. The poignant and sensitively shot episode Kaun Banega Crorepati in which Sonali was accompanied by Lara Dutta Bhupati is now national knowledge. However, the Rs 25 lakh that she won will be taxed at the rate of 30%, against which TMC MP Derek O'Brien has issued an appeal. However, more popular support would be required to see the waiver through on the grounds of this being the rarest of rare cases.
A public appeal for funds was also issued through Hallabol.com, which helped some but more funds are welcome because it's becoming necessary for Sonali to consult doctors abroad for specialised surgeries and treatment.
Her legal and moral fight is also far from over.
"Why shouldn't my attackers be charged with attempt to murder and grevious assault? Why isn't there harsher punishment for perpetrators of acid attacks when the victim's life is not only endangered but altered for the worse? Why doesn't the government take responsibility for such attacks? If you can pay crores toward Ajmal Kasab's security but can't protect women, you should at least pay to support their treatment in full and for their rehabilitation. After all, it happened on your watch," questions Sonali.
