AN AWE-INSPIRING TALE OF A FIGHTER......

    She has shown exemplary courage and spearheaded a positive change.
 We bring to you the inspiring tale of Laxmi, the Winner of the L'Oreal Paris Femina Women Awards (Category: Woman We Love).

          An acid attack that left her with 45 percent burns saw 15-year-old Laxmi staying locked up in her home for eight years. That was until she realised that this withdrawal was exactly what her attacker wanted. That is why, though 23 year old Laxmi has, through her work, compelled the Supreme Court to make prosecution of acid attackers easier to pursue and the regulation of acid sales more robust, she insists that rehabilitation of survivors needs to be top priority.

"When people ask whether I'll be scared of my attacker when he is released, I reply, 'He will be scared of me.'Women lock themselves up after such incidents, and that is what the attackers want - for your life to be over".

Laxmi has been feted with many awards,including the International Woman of Courage Award which she received from Michelle Obama.

       Not that it was always easy. "When I first saw my face in the mirror after the attack, I wanted to die," she says. "But today, seven surgeries later, I don't want to go through any more surgeries. I think I am beautiful."

 A brief note on her:

                    Laxmi is an Indian campaigner with Stop Acid Attacks and a TV host. She is an acid attack survivor and speaks for the rights of acid attack victims. She was attacked in 2005 at age 16, by a 32-year-old man whose advances she had rejected. Her story, among others, was told in a series on acid attack victims by Hindustan Times. She has also advocated against acid attacks through gathering 27,000 signatures for a petition to curb acid sales, and taking that cause to the Indian Supreme Court. Her petition led the Supreme Court to order the central and state governments to regulate the sale of acid, and the Parliament to make prosecutions of acid attacks easier to pursue.

             She is the director of Chhanv Foundation, a NGO dedicated to help the survivors of acid attacks in India. Laxmi received a 2014 International Women of Courage award by US First Lady Michelle Obama. She was also chosen as the NDTV Indian of the Year.