Acid attack incidents continue unabated

FAISALABAD: A young girl suffered burn injuries on her face and arm when her fiancé attacked her with acid in Jaranwala area on Friday.

The victim, Maryam Atiq, was engaged to her cousin Kamran, a resident of Bahawalpur. The engagement was called off due to certain suspicions over about the character of Kamran.

Kamran threw acid on his ex-fiancé when she stepped out of her home to throw garbage. As a result, Maryam sustained severe burn injuries on her face and arm. She was shifted to Jaranwala hospital by Rescue 1122 team after receiving medical aid. CPO Sohail Chaudhry took notice of the incident and formed teams to arrest the accused. On the other hand, this year saw an increase in acid attacks compared to last year.

Incidents of violence against women have been rampant in Faisalabad. Three acid attacks were reported in the first five months of this year in Faisalabad, the third-largest city in the country.

In all these incidents women and girls, under the age of 30 were the victims. The first incident took place in February in the area of Mansoorabad police station with 22-year-old Amna, whose case was registered.

Police said Amna’s in-laws threw acid on her over a domestic dispute. As a result, Amna’s eyes and face were badly damaged. The three accused involved in the case were arrested and sent to jail.

The second incident was reported in April in the area of Chak No 241GB of Thikriwala police station with Humera Bibi. She was attacked with acid by her husband Haroon and her in-laws. The two accused involved in the incident were arrested by police and sent to jail. However, their cases were pending in the courts.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, the CPO said that teams had been formed to arrest the accused of the recent case as soon as possible. “The accused will be arrested soon and punished as per the law.”

Citizens, on the other hand, reacted differently to the incident, questioning the performance of the police, arguing that the police took too long to solve the cases, from taking notice to forming teams for the arrest of those involved in such heinous crimes.

Those involved in such crimes should be strictly punished so that anyone who intends to throw acid on another person will be afraid to do so in the future, the CPO added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2020.