Lady Finds Love After Acid Attack & 17 Surgeries

“Miracles do happen,” says Lalita Ben Bansi, 26, as she gets ready for her wedding reception in Mumbai on Tuesday. “Who would have thought an acid attack and 17 surgeries later I would find love. But it happened. And it all started with a wrong number.”

Lalita’s life took a turn for the worse in 2012, when her cousin threw acid at her over some minor argument.

“So many surgeries later, too, my face was deformed. In need for change, I moved from Azamgarh to Kalwa in Thane near Mumbai,” says Lalita.

Lalita spoke to Ravi Shankar, 27, with whom she tied the knot at the Thane court on Tuesday, thanks to a wrong number. They got to know each other over the past two months and decided to get married. “Shankar taught me to believe in love. It is a fresh start,” says Lalita.


“I liked her from the beginning,” says the blushing groom. “I had to only convince my mother to accept my choice. I had to make Lalita believe that she too had the right to a better life.”

Shankar works as a CCTV operator at a private firm in Kandivli and owns a petrol pump in Ranchi. “We will decide whether to settle in Mumbai or Ranchi depending on what Lalita wants,” says Shankar.

Daulat B Khan, president of Saahas Foundation, who works with acid attack survivors, said, “There are 21 such women in the foundation. Actor Vivek Oberoi met Lalita at one of their functions and agreed to pay for her surgeries in the future.”