Disfigured victim posts glamor shots online

A 21-year-old young woman who was a victim of disfigurement five years ago courageously faced the public eye, recently posting a series of glamor photographs on the internet.[Photo/china.org.cn]

A 21-year-old young woman who was a victim of disfigurement five years ago courageously faced the public eye, recently posting a series of glamor photographs on the internet.

In her photos, her scars are still shocking although they cannot dim her elegant figure.

In September, 2011, Zhou Yan's classmate Tao Rukun suddenly covered her in lighter fluid and lit her on fire as a means of revenge for relationship issues. She suffered burns on over 30 percent of her body and lost one year in a case that was labeled as "princeling of government official disfigures young girl."

The assailant was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2012 but Zhou's compensation of 1.8 million yuan (US$270,000) didn't arrive until recently.

She decided to walk back into the limelight after realizing that hiding from the public should not be her solution through her life, although previously she had suffered endless antipathy from pedestrians and also when she tried to find work.

"I live inside an unfamiliar body. I continue to live as if I were still a 16-year-old, unable to face the 21-year-old me. I am still the same romantic girl expecting an orange-flavored rain. I often want to cry but can at most sob. Daybreak will soon arrive and everything will be alright," she wrote in her microblog.

Had it not been for the assault, Zhou would have been recommended for admission to a university exempted of her exams and she would be finishing up her junior year. "People get married early here. I may have already been a mother," Zhou said.

Zhou still desires love and marriage. "I won't lose hope to love or stop trusting in love. The right person will come, although my chance is slim and I am at most an imperfect bride," she said.