Theatre is my only livelihood, says Devi

Metrolife met Devi, a stage artiste who suffered a burns assault and is undergoing treatment at Victoria Hospital. She wants her wounds to heal soon so she can return to acting

Around 4 am on March 18, Kushal V was jolted awake by screams and wailings of his mother Devi, a 51-year-old theatre artiste, in the next room.

The woman was asleep when someone threw toilet cleaner from the window and soon, her face, neck and upper back began burning. “I heard her screaming that something fell on her and she could feel a burning sensation. We poured some water on her and tried to console her but her cries just got louder. My 16-year-old sister and I rushed her first to the K C General Hospital from where we were referred to the burns ward in Victoria Hospital. We were told that she had suffered burns due to what doctors suspected was toilet cleaner thrown on her,” Kushal, 18, told Metrolife at the hospital on Monday.

A case was registered in the Nandini Layout police station and it did not take cops too long to zero in on the culprits: Devi’s fellow artistes, Ramesh and Swati, and their hatchet man, Yogesh, the one who threw a toilet cleaner on her that night.

According to investigating officers, Ramesh, who met Devi a year ago, had developed feelings for her. This had caused a lot of trouble in his family. But Devi insists that she and Ramesh were just friends. She didn’t have any such feelings towards him.

“He is like my younger brother and I find it hard to believe that he would do such a thing. I learnt the ropes of acting from Swati, who is a senior artiste. She would address me as ‘Deviavare’. I don’t know when and why they turned against me,” Devi told Metrolife.

“I don’t know if jealousy pushed Ramesh to commit this act. I started getting some good opportunities to act and my daughter also started acting. We were earning decently well. Suddenly, Ramesh began behaving differently with me. He started controlling who I interact with and moving around. He would discreetly record my conversations with him and play it to other people to tarnish my image. He also tried to set my sister against me,” Devi said.

Devi also said that Ramesh’s wife was upset because he would spend a lot of time at her place. “I started avoiding him and blocking his calls because of his behaviour. This must have upset him,” says Devi, as she wipes her sore wound with a piece of cotton.

Theatre is the only hope

She hopes the wound heals and that she will be able to get back to theatre because it’s their only source of livelihood. “My children will complete their SSLC soon but I have to run the house,” says Devi, whose husband abandoned her and her children many years ago.

Devi says that this incident has scarred her. “I usually don’t make friends. But now I can’t trust anybody. I hope I recover soon enough to get back to work,” she adds.

Accused nabbed in 24 hours

The accused (from left) Swati, Yogesh and Ramesh were arrested by the police a day after the incident, on March 19.

The investigating officers were swift to nab the culprits. “We cracked the case in less than 24 hours. This is a stern warning to anybody who intends to commit such acts. They will not be spared,” Bengaluru City Police commissioner Kamal Pant tells Metrolife.

Vinayak Patil, DCP North, says that it is the CCTV footage in the vicinity of Devi’s house that helped the police identify Ramesh and Yogesh, the man who committed the crime.

“Swati, another theatre artiste, is also accused in this case. While Ramesh’s wife left him because she thought he had an affair with Devi, Swati developed a grudge against Devi because she felt Devi was talking ill about her. Swati and Ramesh plotted to take revenge and throw acid-like substances on Devi’s face so she will never be able to act,”
he says.

Ramesh commissioned Yogesh to commit the crime. Vinayak also says Yogesh has other cases pending against him.

“Yogesh was in need of money and Ramesh offered him Rs 10,000 to commit the act,” adds Vinayak. The accused are in police custody.

“We are awaiting the FSL report to ascertain the chemical composition of the liquid and we will file the charge sheet accordingly. The doctors have informed us that the toilet cleaner that was poured on Devi’s face had about 10 to 20 percent acid content. That quantification we will get to know after the FSL report,” says Vinayak.

Who is Devi?

Devi, who spent her childhood in a village in Maddur, came to Bengaluru in 1999 and worked as a typist before joining BMTC as a bus conductor. “I took VRS in 2018 because I developed back problems and couldn’t stand for too long. After this, theatre was my only hope and refuge to earn some money,” says Devi, whose interest in theatre was sparked when she was five years old. “My father introduced me to theatre and I have participated in plays and drama in school and college. Historical plays and those with a social message interest me,” she adds.

On road to recovery

Dr Ramesh Krishna K, medical superintendent, Victoria Hospital, tells Metrolife that Devi was brought on March 18 morning after she sustained injuries on face and neck due to a burn assault. “The acid content in the toilet cleaner was very less and therefore there is minimal damage. She has sustained burns on her face, neck, chest and right eye. The burns are less than 10 percent and she is recovering well. Even the risk of an eye infection is minimal,” explains Dr Ramesh. Devi has a little blurry vision in the right eye but it will settle down, he adds. “She will not require any surgery. Antibiotics and painkillers will help. During the wound management for burn victims, we also arrange for counselling which helps them recover from the shock,” he says. Sathya K, who works with Aweksha, an NGO that works with the burn victims attached to Victoria Hospital, says Devi was in a state of shock when she was brought here and refused to believe that Ramesh and Swati could have committed the act. “We counsel the victims and help them bounce back to normalcy. It took Devi a day or two to open up to me. We assured her that she would be cured of all the scars and would be able to return to a normal life soon,” says Sathya.

Compensation

Pramila Naidu, chairperson of Karnataka State Commission for Women, who visited Devi on Monday, has assured her of adequate compensation from the government. “The court will decide an amount to be given to the victim after assessing the severity of the case. After a proposal was sent by the Karnataka State Commission for Women, the compensation amount for acid victims has been raised from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000. The amount will be dispatched as soon as we are done with the documentation work,” Pramila tells
Metrolife.