Ritani Maharjan - a household worker who helped out with the dishes, laundry and household chores at 3-4 homes every week - was walking to her first home of the day. On the way, she was being followed by a street dog.

"I really like dogs, but this one gave off a scary vibe, as if it wanted to bite me." Ritani stood calm, but the dog still attacked her from the back. "It bit me between my legs. I was bleeding heavily."

Without anyone around her, Ritani's desperate calls for help went unanswered. "I scurried to the nearest hospital on my own. Walking in that condition was more painful than giving birth to my daughter."

On reaching the ER, Ritani was bleeding profusely. The doctors operated on her, but the bite left her frail for weeks. "Such injuries, especially in the genitals, are very scary: they can cause serious infections," warned her doctor. Thankfully, Ritani was injected with Rabies vaccines, so her condition could not worsen any further.

However, she couldn't go to work, and as the wife of an alcohol addict, her family still struggles to make ends meet. "Just thinking back about what happened is depressing. People like us don’t have financial security, let alone aid from the government. Such incidents only further exacerbate our living conditions."

In Nepali, 'Surakshya' means safety. This painting portrays the unusual circumstances that led to Ritani’s injury. It also depicts her difficult condition and her call for a safer everyday-life of citizens.

(The name of the patient has been changed to protect his identity.)