Kolkata, April 4 "She won't be able to eat, she won't be able to walk... it would be better to poison her."
These were the cruel words neighbours and relatives hurled at Payal Nag's family in Balangir, Odisha, after she lost all four limbs to electrocution as a child in 2015.
On Saturday evening in Bangkok, the same girl, now 18, stood "tall" on the global stage, winning double gold at the World Archery Para Series, a journey that has turned pain into purpose and silence into a statement.
Payal stunned India's most decorated para archer, Sheetal Devi, the world No 1, with a score of 139-136 in the compound women's final, and also secured a gold medal in the team event, helping India top the medal standings with 16 medals (seven gold, five silver, four bronze).
The turning point in her life came on a morning in 2015.
Payal, then a class 3 student, was playing with her younger brother on the fifth floor of a newly constructed building in Raipur, where her father worked as a mason after migrating from Odisha in search of work.
There was water on the terrace and a live wire had come into contact with it.
In a split second, everything changed.
The electric shock left her critically injured, and doctors had no option but to amputate all four limbs to save her life.
"I don't want to talk about the accident today," Payal said quietly, with a mix of pain and joy. "Not today, please... I can talk about it some other time."
The tragedy pushed the already struggling family of six members into deep despair.
With no means to care for her, her parents – Bijay Kumar Nag and Janata – who hailed from a village called Jamunabahal about 70 kms from Balangir – eventually put her in Parbati Giri Bal Niketan, an orphanage near Balangir.
It was during those days that the harshest words came.
"She won't be able to eat, she won't be able to walk... it would be better to poison her," Kuldeep Vedwan, who spotted her, recalled.
"The parents were helpless and they put her in the orphanage run by the district administration."
Archery basics
==============
Her life-changing turning point came in 2023 when coach Kuldeep Vedwan spotted her on social media.
"I saw her photo on Twitter... she didn't have any arms or legs. I was determined to bring her to my academy (Hri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board)," Vedwan told