“Who attacked us with acid and destroyed our lives and dreams? Why has he not been arrested even after 17 days?” wrote Basnet, in a letter delivered by her aunt to the prime minister on Wednesday.

Basnet, who was attacked at a tuition center in Basantapur, is receiving treatment along with fellow victim Sangita Magar. An unidentified man wearing an orange hood had entered A-Plus Tuition Centre in Jhochhen at around 6 am where the girls were waiting for their class to begin. The attacker suddenly took out a glass vessel containing acid and poured it indiscriminately over the girls before making a quick escape.

In a heartfelt letter, Basnet, who is from Rautahat district, narrates the story of how she came to the Capital four years ago. “I came to the Capital with high hopes and dreams. I never thought something like this could happen to me,” she writes. “I don’t have any male friends. Neither do I have a mobile phone nor a Facebook account,” she writes.

Basnet writes that she had dreams of achieving good marks in the upcoming SLC examinations and joining college.

After reading her letter, Prime Minister Koirala has directed the Education Ministry to facilitate the examinations for the two girls from the hospital.