CBSE Class 10 results: Blinded in acid attack when she was 3, Kafi is now a school topper

Read | CBSE Class 10 Result 2023: Overall pass percentage at 93.12%

As Kafi’s family struggled to make ends meet and moved out of Hisar, where her father used to run an iron shop, the three male accused, who were convicted, walked out after two years. “We got busy in saving our child’s life and in that process, we realised that the case made by the Hisar police was too weak that all three walked out of the jail,” says Kafi’s father Pawan.
In 2019, Pawan says he filed an appeal in the high court but it is still pending.

“For six years, we kept struggling….either in Delhi (AIIMS), Hyderabad…we took her everywhere but could not get her vision. Then I took her to a school in Hisar for two years… I worked as a sweeper in Hisar court and waited for her to complete her school hours. Later I realised, I will not be able to give her the best education this way and then brought her to Chandigarh,” Pawan recalls.

For six years, she remained in hospitals across the country for her treatment. Kafi was admitted to Class 1 at a school in Hisar when she was 8 years old. Finding that she wasn’t able to cope with and was lagging behind, her parents decided to move to Chandigarh. Then at the age of 10, she was admitted to Class 6 at the Institute for Blind.

Kafi is aware of her family’s sacrifices. “As Chandigarh had a good educational institute for the blind, my family moved here. My parents lost all their hard-earned savings in my treatment. The doctors were able to save me but I became blind. Years ago, over Rs 20 lakh was spent on my treatment. My father now works as a peon in Sector 17 to make a living,” she says.

With the help of Braille, educational videos and other equipment, Kafi managed to understand the basics of all the subjects and studied hard to reach her goals. She now intends to pursue the Humanities stream and become an IAS officer.

“There is lack of sight but not lack of vision,” a proud J S Jayara, the principal of the Institute of Blind, told The Indian Express.

“Mana ki andhera ghana hai…magar diya jalana kahan mana hai (Agreed that it is pitch dark but who has ever been stopped from lighting a lamp)….Our students have done exceptionally well and [shown that] despite difficult moments, no one can stop you,” Jayara added.

Kafi’s family would agree.

Kafi and her family now stays at Shanti Nagar in Sector 13 of Chandigarh. She was named Kafi as her parents said that her birth was “sufficient enough” to complete their family.