By Subhash K. Jha, IANS

Actress Kangana Ranaut's sister Rangoli's world came crashing down last week when she was waiting in Dehradun for a bank draft that her fiancé Vikram had sent for her to buy a salwar suit. She was singed with acid allegedly by a rejected suitor.

The first thing Rangoli did after that was call up her fiancé. "I've just been burnt with acid. Will you still marry me?" Rangoli asked in indescribable pain.

"Vikram thought she was pulling a prank on him," smiles Kangana as she recalls the ordeal.

"They're supposed to get married next month. When Vikram got that call from Rangoli it took him time to realise how serious she was. Once he understood that his wife-to-be had been seriously injured, Vikram immediately flew down to Dehradun to be with her. He has been a pillar of strength to my sister. I hope I find such a faithful companion one day," Kangana sighs tiredly.

The worst of the trauma is over. Kangana's sister, along with their parents, were flown down to Mumbai where the actress had made all the necessary arrangements at a well-known hospital.

"Until my sister arrived on Friday evening I was on tenterhooks. I didn't know the extent of her injury. And I knew my parents were suffering. In fact my father went into shock. He just wouldn't speak to my mother as they drove down from our village in Himachal to Dehradun. My father finally came around only when he reached and he saw it wasn't as bad as the media reports, and also when he realised that I had taken charge and was making all the arrangements in Mumbai."

On Thursday, when Kangana's world was shaken and stirred, she was shooting for Suneel Darshan's "Shaka Laka Boom Boom". "When I got a call about my sister I was wondering if they had got the wrong person. How could this happen to my sister? She's so delicate and so beautiful. Even as a child she never fell and hurt herself, never got a scratch on her body. And now to see her in so much pain..."

A team of medical experts in Mumbai have examined Rangoli. Kangana is now breathing easy.

"Fortunately, her eye has been spared and her face will heal. The main damage is to her shoulder. In about two weeks she will be out of hospital. And she'll stay with me in Mumbai for two months.

"My sister told me that when the boy threw a liquid on her and her friend (who escaped with minor burns), the two girls thought it was water. The burning sensation started later."

Kangana gathers herself together.

"The police in Dehradun are on the job. The culprit has been identified."

The motive is apparently Rangoli's rejection of a proposal. "She's so pretty, I'm not surprised she got unwanted attention. But Rangoli and Vikram have been in love for years. She wanted to marry only him."

Kangana is touched by the support she has received from everyone around her.

"Mukesh Bhatt-ji called up and told me to let him know if I need anything. My 'Woh Lamhe' director Mohit Suri offered to help. I'm so glad I'm in a position today to take care of my sister's treatment. Imagine, if I was just a small-town girl studying in college! Whatever money I had saved for my sister's wedding is now being used for her treatment."