Odishatv Bureau

Bhubaneswar: Pramodini is a shining example of how love triumphs against all odds. Justice arrived for her in 2017 and true love graced her on Valentine's Day, after acid attack survivor Pramodini Roul of Tirtol in Jagatsinghpur district got engaged to Cuttack's Saroj Kumar Sahu in Lucknow today.

Pramodini, who was attacked with acid at the age of 16 in 2009, was bedridden for the next five years till 2014 when she met Saroj at a private nursing home in Cuttack. They started their relationship as friends and later on January 14, 2016 they announced their love for each other.

At a time when doctors had declared that Pramodini could hardly walk due to the neural damage the acid had done to her, Saroj stood by her and helped her recover in just four months. He had even left his job as a medical representative to provide all the needed support to Pramodini.

Their engagement took place at Lucknow branch of Sheroes (an acid attack survivors' rehabilitation centre), the place where Pramodini started working after her recovery. It was organised by Pramodini's colleagues - girls who had faced similar ordeal.

Earlier on April 18, 2009, an Indian Army Jawan Santosh Bedanta had thrown acid on Pramodini after she rejected his marriage proposal. Following the incident, Pramodini underwent treatment and a series of surgeries at SCB Medical College and Hospital. But she lost her eyesight. She was operated again in July 2017 in Chennai and got back 20 percent vision in her left eye.

Though Pramodini’s family moved from pillar to post to seek justice and arrest of the prime accused, they never got any success. The case was even closed in 2012. However, after getting concrete evidence, Jagatsinghpur district police reopened the case in August 2017.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team had visited Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir where prime accused Santosh was posted. But Santosh had reportedly left Kashmir and was hiding in Kolkata, where he was arrested by a special team of Jagatsinghpur police in November 2017.

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