Kathmandu, April 23

An interaction programme on burns violence and challenges faced by survivors was organised by the Burns Violence Survivors Nepal here today. The programme was attended by burns survivors, doctors, and other stakeholders.

Burns survivor Sita Tamang, who had suffered severe burns in an accident three years ago, said she had to undergo 13 operations and was in continuous medication since for her treatment. She said society had not been accepting of her scars and she had been ostracised by even her own family. “I have been refused service in public vehicles, where the conductors ask me to take a cab instead,” she said.

Simran KC, another burns survivor, said, “Recovering from the accident takes a long time, both physically and mentally. Society doesn’t help us, putting us down for our scars and reminding us of the incident again and again.”

According to data at the Ministry of Health and Population, 55,902 burn injury cases had been recorded in the country until 2008/9. The report also said that hospitals recorded over 60,000 burn injury cases through 2010 to 2016. Of these, 245 cases were of acid attack and burns violence of which 175 were inflicted on women and children. About 54.7 per cent of burns patients died of their injury.