Lahore acid attack victim recounts ordeal, calls for justice to be served

Naila, an acid attack survivor, who lost her eyesight in a heinous crime committed by her husband and brother-in-law, has come forward demanding justice be served.

Speaking to Express News, Naila, a Lahore resident, recounted her ordeal saying that, she had been living with her family for the past eight to nine months after being fed up by the abuse at the hands of her in-laws.

"My younger sister, brother and father were walking to a nearby market, when two bikes stopped us".

On one motorcycle, Arshad and his relative Bilal were seated, while on the other motorcycle Naila's brother-in-law Mohammad Khan and a man identified as Mustafa were seated.

Her husband then proceeded to throw acid from a bottle on her face after restraining her.

All four men are said to have fled the scene moments after.

She said she fell to the ground, with her brother and father calling for help instead of chasing the culprits.

She said that neither the ambulance nor the police reached the scene.

"My clothes were in tatters with everyone being able to see me, finally a shopkeeper gave me a piece of cloth so I could cover myself," Naila said.

"I was then taken in a rickshaw to Civil Hospital but by then the acid had spread into my eyes."

"This is not the life I wanted to live now I cant even see anything overnight my world came crashing down," she lamented.

Naila had protested outside an anti-terrorism court in Lahore on October 17, calling the attention of the chief justice and the army chief to her plight.

She demanded that her brother-in-law's pre-arrest bail be revoked and he be put behind bars. Her husband has been in jail since the incident, which took place in July.

An FIR was registered against the accused on the complaint of Naila's father on July 18 under Section 336-B of the Pakistan Penal Code, which pertains to punishment for causing permanent disfigurement, and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, which pertains to punishment for acts of terrorism.