Chandigarh: Kafi tops Institute for Blind with 95.6% in CBSE Class 12 exams
At the age of three, Kafi lost her eyesight when her neighbours attacked her with acid due to family jealousy; she underwent extensive treatment at AIIMS, Delhi, and first attended school at the age of eight in 2016
Demonstrating sheer grit, Kafi, an acid attack survivor and a visually impaired student, has once again topped her class at the Institute for the Blind, scoring 95.6% in the CBSE Class 12 humanities exams.
Even in Class 10, she had stood first in the institute with a score of 95.2%.
All 16 students in Class 12 (only humanities stream offered) and 13 in Class 10 passed the board exams with flying colours.
In Class 12, Sumant Poddar ranked second with 94% marks and Gursaran Singh third with 93.6% marks. In Class 10, Sunny Kumar Chauhan topped with 86.2%, followed by Sanskriti Sharma at 82.6% and Neetika at 78.6%.
Despite challenges in accessing study materials, especially audio books of sample questions, the students persevered, relying on NCERT audio books, braille books and YouTube for preparation.
At the age of three, Kafi lost her eyesight when her neighbours attacked her with acid due to family jealousy. She underwent extensive treatment at AIIMS, Delhi, and first attended school at the age of eight in 2016.
Her parents, both of whom are educated only till Class 5, moved to Chandigarh in 2018 to provide better educational opportunities for their daughter.
At the age of 10, Kafi was admitted directly to Class 6 at Institute for the Blind after passing a written test. Although initially challenging, she managed to catch up, studying diligently at home.
For her Class 12 exams, Kafi studied for two to three hours every morning and evening, relying on audio books and YouTube.
Now aspiring to become an IAS officer, she has a message for fellow students: “Whatever problems we have, we can work on them and succeed in life. We just have to be daring and down to earth.”
While acing her studies, Kafi also continues to fight for justice. Challenging the two-year sentence awarded to the four acid attack accused, her family has moved the Punjab and Haryana high court.
Sumant Poddar, hailing from Bihar, said he didn’t follow a strict schedule and used to study when he felt like it, and would play cricket and spend time with friends to refresh his mind.
“Going through brail books was tedious, so I took help from audio books and YouTube,” he said.
