Mumbai: Another acid attack victim claims money from NGO never reached her

midday exclusive Zakira Shaikh is not the only acid attack victim who feels exploited by the NGO Make Love Not Scars After middays report on the matter yet another victim has come forward with allegations that the NGO used his patients picture and story to raise funds without consent Whats more neither the patient nor the hospital got a single penny from the money raised by the NGOFive years ago Lalita Benbansi 25 suffered nearly 80 per cent burns after her 15yearold cousin threw acid on her after a petty argument The Asangaon residents father supported the entire family on a salary of Rs 3000 and the family could not afford to pay for treatment At the time Dr Ashok Gupta had provided full treatment to her free of charge at Bombay Hospital This included 65 reconstructive surgeriesHaving completed treatment Lalita is now happily marriedHowever Dr Gupta says he was surprised when he came across a crowdfunding campaign by Make Love Not Scars claiming to raise funds for Lalitas treatment Neither he nor Lalita had been informed about this nor had they received the 1718 approximately Rs 11 lakh collected by the NGODidnt get any moneyRia Sharmas NGO Make Love Not Scars did not give a single rupee to the hospital that provided quality treatment to the victim free of cost It is their regular practice to collect money in the name of acid attack victims and not to transfer the full amount to the hospital carrying out the treatment said Dr GuptaRia Sharma from Make Love Not ScarsAfter multiple surgeries Lalitas face was reconstructed and she got back on her feet She is now happily married She told midday I was not aware that money was raised in my name I did not get any money People should not play with the emotions of victimsDr Ashok Gupta plastic surgeonInvestigate the NGOThe matter is currently being investigated by the Byculla police after Zakiras family submitted a written complaint to them Dr Gupta who is a Padmashri awardee said he is ready to provide details of Lalitas case to the cops as well demanding that the culprits be bookedIn June Dr Gupta had also written to the charity commissioner in New Delhi seeking his intervention in the matter He wrote While surfing the Internet I came across the NGO Make Love Not Scars claiming to have collected a huge sum of money in US dollars towards the treatment of these patients I was surprised to read the names of two patients who were treated by me at Bombay Hospital for whom the NGO had raised 9000 and 1500He suggested that there should be strict monitoring of such donations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act FEMA Dr Gupta also wrote to Vijaya Rahatkar chairperson of the state womens rights commission on the matterDr Gupta is credithungryRia Sharma founder of Make Love Not Scars rubbished the allegations levelled by Dr Ashok Gupta saying he is hungry for credit She said Dr Gupta had told me that he was looking for financial aid for Lalita He sent me her details and photographs which were later used to raise money through crowdfunding I have email evidence to show Dr Gupta is lying That money is still with Indiegogo the crowdfunding platform and we have not used it for our own purposeAsked why the funds were not transferred to Lalita Sharma said A few things went wrong between me and Dr Gupta he did not take my phone call and hence the money was never transferred Sharma added Dr Gupta is a credithungry person He is targeting me for no reasonSharma hit back at Dr Gupta stating that he has withheld funds they raised for another victim Reshma Qureshi Qureshi told midday Dr Gupta is not polite with his patients and he has not released the Rs 2 lakh that was raised for my treatment I need the funds for an eye operationNot all experiences are badWhoSushmita Murthy 30 writerFunds forHeart surgeryPlatformKettoThe process of making an account on Ketto was easy Once I submitted the necessary documents my campaign was live in two days I raised Rs 104 lakh in five days Since the patient needed the funds urgently I shut down the campaign prematurely The donations that came in rupees got transferred to my account in a couple of weeks The foreign currency came by cheque and took a lot longer to process I got a notification every time someone donated so I could keep tabs on how much money was being raised In the end Ketto took a cut of 810 per cent as mentioned on the site As told to Aastha Atray BananRs 3 lakhThe compensation awarded by the state government for acid attack survivors55Portion of the total donations raised that Ketto had withheld from Shabbo Shaikh