Acid victims: Family burnt while asleep

Shazia and her 3 children have sustained 70 percent burns and are in critical condition.

FAISALABAD:

Five accused threw acid on a woman and her three children in Busti Husnani in the Garh Maharaja Police precincts on Friday.

According to police officials, Basti Husainia 18-Hazari resident Aslam’s wife Shazia and accused Ghulam Abbas, Arif Saeed and their unknown accomplices had a longstanding feud. On Friday morning, Abbas and Saeed jumped the boundary wall and broke into Shazia’s house. The two men threw acid on Arif’s wife Shazia, four-month-old son Sohail, five-year-old Aun and seven-year-old Nighat Bibi while they were still asleep and fled the scene.

Shazia and her children were asleep when the incident occurred and neighbours heard their screams. “We found them all burned but the men had escaped. We immediately took them to the hospital but doctors do not think they will survive,” said Shazia’s neighbour Faiz Hameed.

Doctors at 18-Hazari Hospital said that the four injured had sustained severe burns on their faces, necks, heads, hands and abdomen. “We have estimated the burns at over 70 percent for all of the victims and they have been admitted to the burn unit. We are doing all we can,” said Dr Ahmed Raza.

Shazia’s family told reporters that they had a longstanding land dispute with the accused’s family. “There was also a marriage proposal situation that went awry. Shazia was initially betrothed to one of them men in the family but there was a squabble over dowry,” her mother told reporters.

Police officials have registered a case on the report of Shazia and her neighbours. A case has been filed against Arif, Ghula, Abbas, Saeed and their two accomplices but no arrest has been made so far. “We have filed a case and are searching for the accused but so far we have no leads,” said Inspector Malik Ghulam Hussain. Hussain said that a case had been filed under Section 324, 304, 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2011.