Prema and her uncle Shankar have been running from pillar to post for a job the BJP government promised her in April 2022.
Published Jun 30, 2023 | 9:19 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 30, 2023 | 9:19 PM
An elated Prema and her family members at their house in Sunkadkatte.
Two sisters from a Dalit community in Bihar were attacked with acid on 21 October, 2012. The incident led to a landmark judgement, with the Supreme Court directing all states and Union Territories to initiate steps to include such survivors on the disability list.
Three years later, on 20 April 2015, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an advisory to all states on handling acid-attack victims. It directed all hospitals, including private ones, not to deny treatment to survivors, and the state should meet their medical expenses.
The MHA also asked all states to provide a minimum compensation of ₹3 lakh each to survivors under the Victim Compensation Scheme.
The advisory was issued exactly seven years before a man, Nagesh Babu proposed to Prema R for the third time. She turned down the proposal. Little did the then 23-year-old knew that her life was about to change in a few days.
The apex court judgement and the advisory did little to prevent Prema and her uncle Shankar from running from pillar to post seeking assistance — a job, house, and compensation.
Prema and Shankar are happy today. On Friday, 30 June, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah directed officials to appoint the 25-year-old MCom degree holder in his Secretariat on contract.
She will visit the Vidhana Soudha on Monday, 3 July, with her educational and experience certificates, as sought by the officials.
A resident of Hegganahalli in Sunkadkatte near Mohan Theatre, Prema was working with Muthoot Finance, when Nagesh Babu took a liking towards her. He proposed to her three times, but she rejected him each time saying he was like a brother to her.
Babu could not take the rejection. The man procured a litre of concentrated sulfuric acid and waited for her. Prema was climbing the stairs to her office at Hegganahalli when he confronted her with the mineral acid on 28 April, 2022.
The woman tried to escape. Though she started running, he caught up with Prema and splashed acid on her. After committing the crime, he fled on his motorcycle towards Hoskote. Prema was left screaming on the road with 30 percent burns.
The Kamakshipalya police later said Babu’s initial plan was to die by suicide. However, he changed his mind, left the motorcycle and took a bus to an ashram at Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu. “An appropriate place to repent the crime he had committer,” an investigator said.
The police soon found Babu’s hideout where he was living in the guise of a swami and brought him back to Bengaluru. He made an attempt to escape from custody, but the police fired at his leg and caught him. He is currently lodged in the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, Prema’s ordeal was just beginning.
“When she was in the hospital, the then health minister K Sudhakar visited her and promised compensation of ₹5 lakh. He also promised to make her the brand ambassador of the state Health Department. However, she was provided ₹2 lakh and nothing else,” Shankar told South First.
Besides taking care of Prema’s health, the man also had another task at hand: Ensure maximum punishment for the criminal who changed his niece’s life for good.
“We are diligently following up on the case, attending all court hearings. We want justice for Prema. We heard that the accused has gangrene on his knee. There is enough evidence to punish him,” he said.
The uncle also wanted Prema to be properly rehabilitated so that she could pick up the pieces and start life afresh.
“She was dejected after the acid attack. The then chief minister Basavaraj Bommai promised her a government job and a house. He also assured us to compensate the treatment cost from the Chief Minister’s Relief fund,” Shankar said.
The promises, however, did not materialise. They met Bommai, now in the Opposition, once more on Thursday, 29 June. It was then that they decided to meet Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during his Janata Darbar at his home office.
Prema has been under Shankar’s care ever since her parents — Raju and Lakshmamma — left Bengaluru for their home at Koppa in Mandya. Raju, a heart patient, has been bedridden for the past few years.
The woman has two siblings: Preeti and Viswas. Prema’s sister, a software engineer, got married with her blessings while she was undergoing treatment.
On Friday, Prema and Shankar showed up at the Janata Darshan. Hesitantly they shared their ordeal with Siddaramaiah. They also mentioned that they had approached Bommai earlier who gave them a letter that said the government had sanctioned ₹10 lakh for her treatment at St John’s Hospital.
The amount was paid directly to the hospital. Other assurances, such as a government job and a house, remained unfulfilled.
“They had also appealed to the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for employment. He promised, but did not give a job to the victim,” the Chief Minister’s Office quoted the woman and her uncle.
“Upon hearing the victim’s plea, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah directed the officials to give her a job on a contract basis,” the CMO added in a statement.
