A 19-year-old Indian woman whose face was brutally disfigured in an acid attack will walk the catwalk in New York next month in her first trip overseas.
Reshma Qureshi, who lives in Mumbai, was attacked by her brother-in-law and pinned down by his friends who doused her face in acid in 2014.
Her features were horribly damaged and she lost sight in one eye, but Qureshi has been determined to build a life for herself.
She is the face of a campaign to end the open sale of acid in India and appears in videos on YouTube offering beauty tips and make-up advice.
FTL Moda, a fashion production company, invited her to take part in New York Fashion Week, the bi-annual style frenzy that brings together models, fashion editors, buyers and designers from across the world.
She is scheduled to walk the runway on September 8 in two shows during New York Fashion Week, FTL Moda told reporters.
The daughter of a taxi driver, she was filmed wiping away tears and smiling when told by the charity Make Love Not Scars that she would be flying to New York.
The London-based charity Acid Survivors Trust International estimates there are 500 to 1,000 acid attacks each year in India.
Acid attacks rarely kill but leave severe physical, psychological and social scars. They are a particular problem in south-east Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, the West Indies and the Middle East.
The overwhelming number of victims are women and children.
FTL Moda is committed to challenging norms of beauty in the fashion world and last year invited Madeline Stuart, an Australian teenager with Down syndrome, to walk the runway, garnering rave reviews.
6.9K views · 135 reactions | I’m genuinely shocked and saddened by reports that Will Jackson, Conservative candidate for North Harrow in the elections next month, has told British-born Asian MPs like Rishi Sunak and Shabana Mahmood that they are “not British” and should “go back to Pakistan,” He also suggested figures like Anthony Joshua and Dua Lipa aren’t British.I have raised this important matter in Parliament today, because there is no place for racism in our politics.I’m proud of Harrow’s diverse, close-knit communities. Every candidate should seek to unite people, not divide them.This matter must be taken seriously. I welcome the Conservative Party’s statement that Mr Jackson’s comments are wholly unacceptable and their decision to suspend him.But serious questions remain about how he was selected as a candidate in the first place, and why he was considered fit to represent our community.https://bylinetimes.com/2026/04/13/conservative-candidate-tells-british-mps-to-go-back-to-pakistan/🎥 👇 | Gareth Thomas MP 
