On a cold February evening in Uttar Pradesh, fifteen-year old Resham Fatma was walking towards her coaching class when she was waylaid by her 38-year old maternal uncle. The man she had known her whole life was now wielding a knife. He forced her into a waiting car and asked her to marry him. When she refused, he held her hair, pulled her towards him and holding up a big plastic bottle, calmly started pouring acid on her head.
Through the searing pain that shot through her head, arms and thighs, Resham managed to push him and jump out of the car. She ran, and was chased by her uncle for several minutes until she managed to get into an auto and head straight to the police station.
“I thought my life was important enough to try and save, not only for me but for the others in my life,” says Resham, two painful surgeries, endless grafting work and countless injections later. She is now 16 and was in the Capital on Saturday. She will receive the National Bravery award from the Prime Minister on Republic Day along with 23 other children who displayed extraordinary bravery in the face of immediate danger.
“I could see my friend's hand sliced into two, there was glass coming out of people’s faces, one teacher’s skull seemed to have cracked and there was a lot of screaming and moaning and I could also see that I was the only one unhurt. Now, I could either cry or try to do something about it,” says Zeal Jitendra Marathe, a chirpy 13-year old from Gujarat who kept her head when the bus carrying her classmates and teachers suddenly overturned on one side. She hailed down a passing vehicle and managed to get everyone out of the fallen bus and into the hospital.
“I will always chase bad people and protect the weak,” says 16-year old Devesh Kumar from Uttar Pradesh. He was shot in the stomach after chasing down goons who were making away with jewellery stolen from the school principal. He now wants to be a cop or an army officer.
“I just thought that the little boy would drown if I didn’t help him, that’s all,” says Tooldev Sharma, a nine-year old with a slight lisp who had saved a three-year-old from drowning in a pond near his home in Manipur.
There were many little children who did not know how to swim but had jumped into water to save complete strangers from drowning. “My father always told me to protect those who were not as strong as me and when I saw those two little children drowning, I just had to jump in. I didn’t know who they were,” says Vishal Becharbhai from Gujarat.
There were also those children who died while saving the lives of their loved ones or complete strangers.
“I always told her to be brave and strong at heart. Bad things happen these days,” says a visibly grief-stricken Suresh Pal, the father of Riya Chaudhary from Uttar Pradesh who stood in front of her father and took the bullets aimed at him.
“There was a property dispute in the family and the goons came with guns and started shooting. My daughter saw this happening and she came and shielded me from the bullets. She died instantly.”
Monika from Uttarkhand, who saved her neighbour from drowning, Mesak K. Remnalalnghaka from Mizoram, who saved a stranger from drowning, and Gaurav Kumar Bharti from Gujarat, who saved his friends from being drowned, are being awarded posthumously.
Cash prize, citation The awards which include a cash prize, a citation and sponsorship of education are given by the Indian Council for Child Welfare.
Other bravehearts are 13-year-old Gunjan Sharma from Assam who saved her classmates by offering herself as hostage when some miscreants hijacked their school bus, 13-year-old Rumoh Meto from Arunachal Pradesh who saved his cousin from being electrocuted, 13-year-old Sahanesh from Karnataka who again kept his head when his school bus overturned and swerved off the road by pulling out everyone who was stuck inside, 13–year-old Ashwini Bandu Ughade from Maharashtra who saved her sister from the clutches of a leopard by hitting its head with mangoes, 10-year old Brainson Singh from Manipur who saved his little brother from getting electrocuted and seven-year old Ripa Das from Tripura who saved her brother from a raging fire in their home.
