“They couldn’t take a ‘no’ from me and so they decided to snatch my face, and steal my life away,” she said as she groped for water to wash down medicine administered by her father.

The Indian government does not keep specific figures on acid attacks.

According to the London-based charity Acid Survivors Trust International, about 1,500 acid attacks are reported globally each year. But many more victims do not report their injuries to the authorities and instead suffer in silence.

Mukherjee says that numerous appeals failed to produce any financial or legal support from the state. Instead her family had to sell their two-storey home, farmland, gold and the cattle to meet medical expenses.

In one letter to the government she even said that she would prefer to commit suicide – which is illegal in India – rather than live in continuous pain.

But as she despaired of funding her treatment, Mukherjee decided to apply to appear on “Kaun Banega Crorepati", the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and which was featured in the movie “Slumdog Millionaire”.

After being chosen as a contestant, she went on to win 2.5 million rupees (S$45,000) last month after successfully answering 10 questions.

The money will be used to fund a round of plastic surgery next year for Mukherjee, who keeps a portrait of herself as a fresh-faced teenaged cadet. She said that letters appealing for help had failed to yield results but the sight of her injuries had a much more profound impact.

“Once everything else had failed, I decided to use my face.”

Mukherjee says that her winnings may be welcome but they still will not be enough to cover all her medical bills.