Prachi (name changed), the 38-year-old who was allegedly raped by her former lover, will take a long time to recover from the physical and mental trauma of the incident.

The accused, Bhagwat Waghmare, disfigured Prachi’s face by cutting off her nose and ear because she refused to respond to his overtures. Waghmare was presented in the Panvel court on Wednesday and has been remanded in judicial custody.

Prachi, meanwhile, will have to undergo extensive facial reconstructive surgery.

The Chembur resident and mother of two has been at Sion hospital since October 10 when Waghmare raped her and disfigured her face.

Doctors at the hospital’s plastic surgery department said Prachi would have to undergo a procedure called skin-flap. Skin tissue from her forehead will be expanded and then shifted to the nasal region of her face.

A cartilage will be fitted beneath it with tissue taken from her rib cage to form a nose that is 90 per cent similar to her original nose.

Prachi’s nose was cut off right at the bone so she has no outer nose left, surgeons said. Her inner nose is fully intact and hence her breathing will not be affected.

Her ear’s outer rim will be formed out of skin taken from her neck or stomach.

According to Assistant Police Inspector of Nhava Sheva police station, Nandkishore Badhe, Prachi and Waghmare were in a relationship before their marriage around 16 years ago.

“Waghmare got divorced twice and was trying to rekindle his relationship with Prachi,” said Badhe. Prachi, however, refused to respond to Waghmare’s overtures.

The incident occurred in Uran. Waghmare took where Prachi there on the pretext of returning the money he had borrowed from her. Waghmare, a resident of Sion, was found in Pune and has confessed to the police at he raped the woman in the forest after tying her up. He then cut her left ear and nose with a knife.

The police had a tough time finding Waghmare. “He did not have a fixed residence. We zeroed in on his sister who lives in Pune,” said Badhe.

Doctors, meanwhile, say Prachi is ‘mentally well balanced’. All the surgical procedures, largely free of cost, will be completed in three months, after which Prachi may have to visit the hospital once in three months to follow up with the doctors.