Suspect remanded over acid attack

A court in Karachi's South district on Thursday sent a suspect to two-day physical remand for allegedly throwing acid at a 19-year-old woman from his neighbourhood after she turned down his romantic overtures.

According to the police report, both the suspect and the victim are residents of Hazara Colony, popularly referred to as Kala Pull.

The victim, who is a healthcare provider, told police that she took the bus for work. When she got off at the bus stop at Cantt station, she saw the suspect waiting for her.

"He threw some liquid on me due to which my eyes, face, arms and legs started burning and I collapsed with extreme pain," the victim told the police in a statement given from her bed in the medical ward of a local hospital. "I woke up in the hospital where the doctors told me that I had suffered acid burn injuries.

As per the FIR registered under section 336-B, the victim said that the suspect, identified as Kamran Allah Bux, lives in her neighbourhood.

"He would stalk me," says the police report citing the complainant. She told police that her family and her parents had talked to Kamran's parents to stop him but to no avail. "Kamran wanted me to be his girlfriend but I refused his advances," she said

"I hold Kamran responsible for m injuries and seek justice as per the law," she said in her statement.

The suspect was arrested within hours of the attack and presented before a magistrate who remanded him to police custody for interrogation.

As per Frere Police officials, the suspect confessed to the acid attack saying it was to avenge the victim's refusal of his proposal.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2023.