KOCHI: Acid attack victim Smina Reni of Piravom and her family have received a fresh lease of life with them getting a new house on Tuesday.
It was built by DP World, international NGO Habitat for Humanity, social workers and well-wishers in the area who came to know of their plight. The keys of the 750 sq-ft house with three rooms were handed over to Smitha by district collector Mohammed Y. Safirulla at a function on Tuesday.
Smitha and her children were living in a one-room house at Kottappuram, Piravom, after the death of her husband. The children faced torture from the friend of the mother who later joined them. Eighth standard student Smina Reni was seriously hurt in an acid attack by the mother’s friend in January this year.
When the social workers and well-wishers in the area came to know about their story, they joined hands to help them. The drive to rehabilitate them was led by NCC teacher at Piravom St Joseph School, P.P. Babu, previous police sub-inspector at Ramamangalam, N.B. Aby, and Piravom municipal councillor Jilse Periyapuram.
Many people contributed to build a new house for them. The district administration, too, stepped in to help. On the direction of the collector, the DP World included it under its corporate social responsibility initiative. The remaining works were completed by Habitat for Humanity.
The function on Tuesday was attended by district women protection officer M.S Deepa, DP World representatives Girish C. Menon and Sudheer Kumar, Habitat for Humanity representative Praveen Paul and Jilse Periyapuram.
