Woman doused with acid by husband’s first wife

Alleged attacker is first wife of victim’s husband; spouse allegedly suppressing case

ISLAMABAD:

A woman was allegedly attacked with acid by her husband’s first wife. She was admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) burn care centre on Wednesday, where she remains under treatment for burns to her face and neck.

A Pims official, while requesting not to be named, told The Express Tribune that Fatima Javaid, 22, was brought to the burn centre by Rescue 1122.



“She has suffered severe burns to her entire face, neck and a small part of her shoulder after acid was thrown over her. She is out of danger but is still in the intensive care unit (ICU),” he said.

He said the victim is a resident of New Katarian in Rawalpindi, and had claimed that her husband’s first wife had thrown acid on her.

The official said that Fatima told the burn unit staff that the alleged attacker had also sexually abused her in the past.



He said Javaid had told them that after she threatened to tell their husband about the abuse, the alleged attacker took her somewhere and gave her something to drink, which made her pass out. She then awoke feeling like her face was burning.

However when The Express Tribune contacted her husband Javaid Ghouri, he said he had no idea who the attacker was, but denied that it could have been his first wife.

On the other hand, Margalla SHO Asjad Mehmood said that Fatima has identified the first wife as the attacker in the official statement the police had recorded. He said she later requested to change her statement after consulting her husband.



Mehmood further said that Ghouri has refused to register an FIR and said he would take her wife from the hospital as soon as possible.

Acid crimes are non-bailable and non-compoundable — cases cannot be settled through an out of court compromise.

According to a report issued by Acid Survivor Foundation, the total number of acid victims reported since 2007 stands at 1,231, with 675 female victims, 386 male, five transgender, and 165 cases where the gender of the victim was not available.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2015.