In This Short Film, Four Survivors Of Acid Attacks Tell Their Powerful Stories

"When I look at myself in the mirror, I feel helpless."

Make Love Not Scars, an NGO that works to rehabilitate acid attack survivors, released a short film telling the stories of four survivors.

Make Love Not Scars / Via youtube.com

Pictured above, clockwise from top-left – Monica, Lalita, Sonali, and Anu.

In the video, each woman tells the story of her attack, and the struggles she has had to face since.

youtube.com

"Its always hard when we are filming the survivors because they are made to live their ordeal all over again, but they know that it's important as well," the team at Make Love Not Scars told BuzzFeed India in an email. "They want their stories to be heard so that the world can know more about this brutal crime."

"We are looking to spread awareness through this video as well as help girls in need. We are hoping that this video will reach a lot of people and through it people will know to contact us in case of a case," they added.

"We had to interview a few survivors and the hardest interview for me was Lalita," said Riya Panjabi, the director of the short film.

Via youtube.com

"She was crying, saying she'd rather kill herself, that's one of the first times I cried while interviewing someone. If her reaction to my questions could sensitise me, then why not the whole country? Why not the whole world? We need more young people like this, our generation should be thinking about what we can do to give back. I thought documenting her movement would honestly provoke thought and make people strive for change. Now a year has passed, she has completed a year of counselling survivors and so this documentary is dedicated to her and her survivors," Riya added.

Watch the video here:

youtube.com