Foot Soldiers: Stories From A Walk For Mental Health
Ranil Thilakaratne tells us this distressing account of a teenager in a small town near Puttalam, who poured kerosene over her body and then set herself alight. It was because she had been raped, and had no one to turn to. “Even after she was brought to the hospital, she still would not tell anyone that she was raped,” he tells us. “Imagine burning yourself because you know that if you go home, you would have to face the usual stigma and rejection from your family and community.”