Reshma Quereshi, 19, was permanently disfigured two years ago while walking to an exam center with her sister, who had left her abusive husband. On May 19, 2014, when she tried to save her sister, her brother-in-law and his friends pinned her down and poured acid on her. The acid damaged the then-seventeen-year-old’s left cheek and destroyed her left eye. Quereshi was depressed and suicidal following the attack. 

A photograph of Indian acid attack survivor Reshma Qureshi before the attack lies at her feet as she rests in her home at a slum in the eastern suburbs of Mumbai. 

According to the Hindustan Times in India, the nineteen-year-old’s life was transformed after the attack by  the founder of the the non-profit organization Make Love Not Scars, Ria Sharma, who is dedicated to helping acid attack survivors. Sharma helped Quereshi overcome her depressions and raised funds for her. Quereshi regained her confidence and stopped covering up in public. 

Quereshi rehearses walking the catwalk in New York City, September 8, 2016. By taking part in the fashion show, she hopes to promote the #TakeBeautyBack campaign. 

Many women in Asia and elsewhere, including Afghanistan, suffer acid attacks as punishment for creating “dishonor” to their family or are victims of men they have rebuffed. The same day that Quereshi participated in the fashion show, a Mumbai court sentenced a man to death for killing his neighbor with acid for refusing to marry him. It was the first sentence of its kind in India. 

The teenager, the youngest daughter of a Mumbai taxi driver, was invited to participate in New York Fashion Week by FTL Moda. Quereshi said, “I want to show people that there is nothing in a face. even though I look like this I can do things and I can be a model. That is why I decided to do this,” in a video posted to Youtube. 

Quereshi presents a creation from Indian designer Archana Kochhar’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection in New York City, September 8, 2016. 

Quereshi rehearses before walking to present in Indian designer Archana Kochhar’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection during New York Fashion Week in the Manhattan borough of New York, September 8, 2016.

The model had never left India until her trip to New York. She told Make Love Not Scars, “I am just happy to have been invited for a big event like this and show the world that beauty lies in the soul and not in looks.”

Indian Acid attack survivor Reshma Quereshi of India struts the runway wearing a long-sleeve white dress with embroidered appliques by Indian designer Archana Kochhar during the FTL Moda presentation at New York Fashion Week in New York City, on September 8, 2016. 

Quereshi went through nine months of skin graft surgeries after the attack. 

An online campaign #EndAcidSale by Make Love Not Scars with Quereshi advocates a ban on the sale of acid in India to help prevent the kind of attack that happened to her. 

Querreshi took part in “Beauty tips by Reshma” videos through the non-profit organization as part of the campaign.