Naushad Akhtar/Patna-Ranchi

At 29, Resham Fatima has become the first acid attack survivor from India to receive the prestigious Chevening Scholarship awarded by the UK government.

She will pursue a Master's degree in Gender, Development and Globalisation at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), one of the world's leading universities. Her journey to this milestone, however, has been marked by extraordinary courage and resilience.

Resham was just 17 and studying in Class XI in Lucknow, where she lived with her grandparents, when tragedy struck in 2014. Her mother's cousin, Riaz, nearly 20 years older than her, repeatedly pressured her to marry him. When she refused, he plotted a brutal act of revenge.

One day in February 2014, Riaz offered to pick her up from her coaching centre and drop her home. Trusting him as a close relative, she agreed. Instead, he drove to a deserted stretch of road and suddenly poured acid over her head.

"At first I thought it was petrol, but the next moment I started feeling an unbearable burning sensation. He took out a knife and placed it on my neck. I still remember it. I thought that perhaps this is what death looks like," Resham recalls.

Summoning remarkable courage, she pushed him away and ran onto the road despite the excruciating pain. An autorickshaw driver came to her rescue and helped her escape.

Her ordeal, however, was far from over. At a nearby police station, crowds gathered but no one stepped forward to take her to a hospital. It was only after an elderly man intervened that she finally received medical attention

Resham at a worskshop of her Ebrah Foundation

The attack left severe burns on her face and body, forcing her to undergo years of surgeries and treatment. During this period, she withdrew from social life, struggling to come to terms with her trauma.

Eventually, Resham resolved not to let the attack define her future. Despite intense physical pain and emotional distress, she scored 87 percent in her Class XII examinations. In 2015, she received the Bharat Award, India's highest National Bravery Award for children.

She went on to earn a Bachelor's degree in Physics (Honours) from Jamia Millia Islamia and later completed a Master's in Politics and International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

"People would stare, ask weird questions, and worst of all, show pity. I didn't want anyone's pity. I wanted people to recognize me by my abilities, not my scars," she says.

While one man's brutality changed the course of her life, the support of her husband, Asghar, helped her dream again. After their marriage in 2024, he encouraged her to apply for the Chevening Scholarship.

Resham with her husband Asghar

Resham is also committed to empowering others. In 2023, while studying at JNU, she founded the Ebrah Foundation, which mentors young Muslim women in education, career development and financial independence.

She believes Muslim women often face a double burden of discrimination—as women and as members of a minority community—and that economic independence is the key to enabling them to make their own choices.

Riaz was arrested after the attack but died by suicide in jail during the trial in 2015.

"I didn't want him to die," Resham says. "I wanted him to live and see me succeed. I wanted him to see that he couldn't ruin my life."

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Under the British government-funded Chevening Scholarship, Resham's tuition fees, accommodation, living expenses and travel costs will be fully covered. She secured the scholarship after successfully clearing a highly competitive multi-stage selection process.