Komal was found roaming her village streets at 7.
Komal lost both of her parents by the time she was five. Her two brothers worked in the fields far from their village like slaves and were unable to care for her. The Balo community learned about Komal from a Pilkhana family who visit Komal’s village regularly and saw her roaming the streets. Balo committed to sponsoring Komal and give her a place in the school if the family could care for her. They took her in for three years until Casa Balo opened, and which time Komal moved into the Balo home.
After leaving from the village, Komal was silent for two years, and she didn’t crack her first smile for three years. She was so stoic that at one point she accidentally burned her arm with boiling water, removing much of the skin, and even as the doctors were scrubbing the wound and cleaning burn, she never flinched, teared, or made a sound. Her ability to detach from pain was abnormal and disturbing. No one knows what she went through prior to her rescue.
Komal is now a smiling, well-adjusted young woman with a bright future ahead. It is not uncommon for her to be caught talking “too much,” a pleasure to all who know her history.