Where survivors serve strength and coffee: Sheroes Café opens in Mehrauli

The new Sheroes Café — the fourth in the chain after Lucknow, Agra and Noida — is run by 15 women who survived brutal attacks and trauma

: Tucked near Mehrauli’s Qutub Minar, a little beyond the bustle of Sultanpur, a new café has opened — and it’s unlike any other. The recently launched Sheroes Café, the latest addition to the chain in Delhi, is run entirely by women who have survived acid attacks and severe burn injuries. Here, managers, servers and team leads aren’t just running a café; they’re reclaiming their lives, with their faces held high.

Acid attack and burns survivors completely manage the newly opened Sheros Cafe in Sultanpur, New Delhi. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Hailing from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, 29-year-old Roopa stands at the entrance greeting customers with a smile she once hid. “Imagine a girl who covered her face even while eating… I did that for five years,” she says. “But today i’m standing tall, welcoming customers into my café. It all feels so unbelievable.”

Roopa was 13 when her stepmother attacked her with acid as she slept. She had studied only till Class 9 and spent the years after that night in and out of hospitals, undergoing more than 30 surgeries. “Losing my mother early made life hard. After the attack, it felt impossible,” she recalls. “But once I started working and became financially independent, I became a new Roopa, one who can also be a leader.” She trained at Sheroes cafés across the country before being appointed team lead at the new Delhi outlet.

Kajal, 19, another team member, came to Delhi with a story marked by violence and grit. A native of Hunterjung, Jharkhand, she was preparing for her Class 10 board exams in 2022 when a man who stalked her threatened to harm her younger brother. After she and her mother reported him to the police, he and his accomplices broke into their home one night and threw acid on both of them. Kajal, the eldest of three siblings, was brought to Delhi for treatment at AIIMS. “When I first came to Delhi, I was clueless and did not know how my life would turn out,” she says.

She recently completed her hospitality training with Taj. “Before the attack I did not know anything about computers, but during my training over the past many months, I am becoming a pro at operating them. In school, my favourite and highest-scoring subject was maths. During my treatment time, I used to think, ‘what was the point of being good at studies when none of that will be useful for me?’ But today, I handle the café’s cash counter because of it,” she says.

Muskaan, 18, from Ayodhya, survived a cylinder blast in 2021 while cooking at home. “Post the incident when I was at home, my relatives used to murmur about what would happen to my life as I am a burn survivor. To their disbelief, my life is going on as usual, same as any other girl my age who has dreams and wants to become financially independent and a powerful person,” she says. She is preparing for her Class 12 board exams while working at the café. “I’m excited for everything ahead. I want to excel in both studies and work.”

The new Sheroes Café — the fourth in the chain after Lucknow, Agra and Noida — is run by 15 such women. The space includes an open-mic corner for performances and a menu full of playful, empowering names: “Unstoppable Smoothie Bowl,” “Vegan Voice French Toast,” “Challenger Caesar Salad,” along with a full pizzeria section.

For now, footfall is modest, but the team is optimistic. “Once word spreads, the managers say, many more people will walk in and they’ll be welcomed with good food and even greater spirit,” said one of the managers.