Bhubaneswar: Even as the focus on Monday remained mostly on the celebrity wedding event at Neemrana Fort Palace Hotel in Rajasthan where Olywood matinee idols Sabyasachi and Archita tied the knot, thousands of miles away in Odisha one brave girl and her knight in shining armour scripted an epic love story that will be told for ages to come.
'Love conquers all,' the saying could not have been apt in any other love affair than acid attack survivor Pramodini Roul's who got hitched on Monday with her long time beau Saroj Kumar Sahu in a humble ceremony in Jagatsinghpur.
Roul from Tirtol in Jagatsinghpur, best known as Odisha's 'Chhapaak girl', shot to fame after she survived a life threatening acid attack in 2009 that left her blind (80%) and bruised for life.
Following the attack, she was bedridden for 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.
Saroj's unflinching love for Roul was equally inspiring. At a time when doctors had declared that Roul 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 even left his job as a medical representative to provide all the needed support to Roul.
Clad in a bright red bridal saree, a serenely beautiful Roul spoke her heart out when a OTV representative encountered her at her wedding. "I think Saroj, his family and my family have set an example for the contemporary society by supporting me all through my struggle as an acid attack survivor," she said.
The event was also attended by Minati Behera, the Chairperson of Odisha State Commission for Women, who said, "Beauty does not signify your face, it lies within you, within your will and determination."
"I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to both Saroj and Pramodini who have set an example for the society," Behera added.
It is worthwhile to mention here that justice arrived for her in 2017 and true love graced her on the following Valentine’s Day in 2018, after Roul got engaged to Cuttack’s Saroj Kumar Sahu in Lucknow.