ACROSS THE MILES

THE BEAUTY WITHIN...

She sat in front of a large studio audience, and was being watched by millions of T.V. viewers to tell her story, her face was disfigured , her hair charred and her arms were hidden. She appeared poised, trying to be brave but at the same time you could sense she was afraid and embarrased. This was a 31 year old wife and mother who was burned alive ,but beat the odds and survived, was willing to face the public and tell her story to make other women aware of the signs of abuse.

Behind her on the screen were pictures of her, looking beautiful, immaculately dressed , pictures of her graduation day, with her friends looking happy and smiling, and one on her wedding day,
most probably the happiest day of her life. She was looking up at the man she had married, she was in love and knew that he was going to protect her from harm and love her.

He had romanced her with flowers, elegant dinners, expensive presents and promises of a beautiful life together. She was smitten by his good looks, his clothes and by the way he treated his friends and family. This was the man she was going to marry.

First there were occasional bursts of anger and criticism, she overlooked it, always blaming it on him being tired and overworked, slowly as the years went by another side of him emerged. The occasional anger and verbal abuse became more frequent. Then started the jealousy and posessiveness . She tried to hide the signs of physical abuse from family and friends by wearing dark glasses and long sleeved clothes. But her eyes told another story, she felt guilty about leaving him because of her upbringing and she wanted her daughter to have a father.

Finally after much persuasion she seperated and asked the judge for a restraining order because she was afraid of him. The judge denied the petition because there were no outward signs of abuse.

One summer morning he followed her to her job, doused her body with gasoline and set her on fire. He left her burning and did not look back . Fifteen surgeries and three years later she was here to tell her story. She wanted the world to know what had happened, she wanted to let other women know that it was better to leave a relationship because of abuse. She wanted to be an example to her daughter.

This was a woman who was always into her clothes and good looks . Now her face was scarred and she had to cover her body .When asked if she looks at herself in the mirror. She replied
" I do, but I only see the beauty within'." Through her pain and suffering she had evolved into a beautiful woman, strong and willing to face the world one day at a time and to tell her story so that abused women all over the world would be able to recognize the signs of abuse and have the strength to leave.