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Reshma Qureshi, a 19-year-old Indian acid attack survivor who also actively campaigns for the #EndAcidSale movement, on Thursday walked the runway at New York Fashion Week, in what she called a life-changing experience after wowing the audience with her catwalk and her beauty despite the acid attack.
Reshma’s brother in-law attacked her with acid with the help of his friends who pinned her down in 2004 and she lost one of her eyes in the process.
“People have the tendency to look at acid attack survivors from one perspective and I don’t want them to look at them like that anymore,” she told the AFP after the show.
“I feel really good and the experience was great,” she said in Hindi through a translator, according to The Guardian. I feel as though it has definitely changed my life. I do feel brave.”
Reshma who wore a cream and floral gown by Indian designer Archana Kochhar on Thursday also said
“I want to tell the world—do not see us in a weak light and see that even we can go out and do things,”
In India, an estimated 500 to 1,000 attacks take place each year, and while they rarely kill they leave severe physical, psychological and social scars that can see victims ostracized and hidden away.
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