‘We will have to be humble': Chandigarh acid attack survivor scores 95.6% in Class 12 CBSE boards, aspires to be an IAS officer
Kafi, 17, an acid attack survivor from Chandigarh, made headlines in 2023 after she scored 95.2 per cent marks in the Class 10 CBSE examinations. Fast forward to 2025, Kafi is in the news again for scoring 95.6 per cent in her Class 12 CBSE board exams.
Speaking to ANI after her results were declared, Kafi said, 'I am an acid attack victim, and my target is to become an IAS officer. Being a visually challenged girl, there were a lot of challenges, but my parents and teachers helped me a lot to conquer them…My main source of study was audio and textbooks.'
Crediting her success to her parents, Kafi also spoke about their sacrifice. 'My parents have been my support system and inspiration. The way they have sacrificed for me, I just want to pay back to them back. This pushes me a lot to do better in my life. For the students out there, I want to say that social media and other things are not going to decide our future; we have to do hard work. We will have to be humble and good human beings.'
Watch here:
#WATCH | Chandigarh: 17-year-old Kafi, an acid attack survivor from Chandigarh, scores 95.6% in CBSE class 12, aspires to become an IAS officer.
Kafi, says 'I belong to Hisar, Haryana. In the recent results of the CBSE Boards, I scored 95.6% in Class 12th. In Class 10th, I had… pic.twitter.com/FEhFwUl1kj
— ANI (@ANI) May 14, 2025
Kafi was just three years old when her life took a devastating turn – three men threw acid on her while she was playing Holi in 2011, leaving her blind. What followed was a long and painful journey. Over the next six years, her parents travelled across the country, spending over Rs 20 lakh in hopes of restoring her vision.
The family, once settled in Hisar, Haryana, where her father ran an iron shop, was forced to relocate to Chandigarh as financial strain mounted. Meanwhile, the three attackers who were convicted were released in 2018 after just two years of imprisonment.
Kafi began her formal education at the age of eight in Hisar, enrolling in Class 1. But realising she was falling behind academically, her parents moved to Chandigarh and admitted her to the Institute for the Blind when she was ten.
Today, Kafi lives with her family in Shanti Nagar. Her name, meaning 'sufficient,' was chosen by her parents because her birth felt like the perfect completion to their family.
After she topped her class at the Institute for the Blind, the Adani Foundation reached out to her. Upon learning about Sankara Nethralaya, the foundation offered to sponsor her treatment and travel as well.
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