A future in doubt after acid attack
SA SOKHA had dreams of being an Apsara dancer, and her March wedding was all planned out.
But the 18-year-old now wonders if that future is possible after a cruel acid attack left half of her face badly burned.
She and her fiancé, Kea Samnang, fell prey to a vindictive attack on Monday, allegedly carried out by Samnang’s former lover, Pach Chansereiroth.
Samnang, who sustained deep burns to his back and chest, winces as he sits up on his hospital bed; he reaches for his smartphone and points to the background image.
It’s a selfie of the young betrothed pair, snapped at a friend’s wedding.
In the picture, Sokha wears a bright red dress and a radiant smile. But today on her hospital bed, she lies flat in “Hello Kitty” pajamas, her face is swathed in white bandages with small gaps for her mouth and eyes.
“It is still painful,” she said, quietly. She hasn’t had anything to eat since the attack on Monday.
“I cannot speak much or it will hurt my mouth.”
Sokha’s desire for a career in traditional dancing, with its emphasis on grace and beauty, has dwindled to only half-hopes.
“I am so scared that my face won’t be the same,” she said.
Out of earshot, her mother, Thhy Satum, weeps and says she is trying to remain strong for her daughter and protect her from keyboard warriors on Facebook who have claimed she was not a victim and somehow deserved CONTINUED
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