Intruders ‘attack woman with acid’

Suspects also allegedly stole victim’s gold ornaments

KURIANWALA:

A woman sustained burn injuries after she came under an acid attack, police said.

According to the police report, Mohammad Rizwan, a resident of Ward No. 12, Nankana, lodged a report with the police stating that suspects Arshad, a resident of Chak No. 70 GB, and Nazia Bibi, resident of Chak No. 225 RB, Ghaffari Town, allegedly armed with a pistol and carrying a bottle of acid arrived at the house of his sister, Farwa, and knocked at the door.

He said that his sister lived on the upper floor of the house with her nine-month-old son, Ibrahim, while Farwa’s sister-in-law, Iqra Bibi, lived on the ground floor.

Mohammad Rizwan told the police that when his sister Iqra opened the door, the suspects hurtled towards his sister’s room where Nazia allegedly threatened to kill his sister unless she gave them her gold ornaments.

Out of fear, his sister handed the gold ornaments over to Nazia Bibi.

Nevertheless, Nazia Bibi threw acid on his sister’s right cheek and lips, injuring her.

He told the police that when his sister raised an alarm, the suspects escaped.

Mohammad Rizwan said that his sister called 15, and police arrived at her house.

The complainant alleged that the sister-in-law of his sister had colluded with the suspects.

The D Type Colony Police Station registered a case against the suspects and mounted a search for them.

In June 2021, a young girl, who worked as a domestic help, was reportedly attacked with acid over refusal of a marriage proposal at Johar Town in Lahore.

Police had said that 27-year-old M, a permanent resident of Pakpattan, had moved to Lahore for work. She had been staying in Feroziyanwala Johar Town and worked a few miles away in Chungi Amar Sadu as a maid.

On the day of the incident, she was on her way to work in the Sui Gas Society in Chungi Amar Sadhu. Reportedly, two suspects, one of them identified as Ahmad Liaquat, a resident of Depalpur, Okara, intercepted her near Jagawar Chowk on a motorcycle. He approached her and forcefully insisted to drop her at her workplace. The victim refused the offer. The suspect carrying acid in a steel vessel poured it in her face.

She suffered burns on her hands, face and neck. She informed her family who took her to Lahore Jinnah Hospital for treatment.

The victim told the police that the suspect had been forcing her to marry him. However, she had refused. “’I will not leave you worthy of anything,’ he had intimidated me,” she told the police.

The brother of the victim, Waqar, had told The Express Tribune that the suspects had been harassing his sister for quite some time. He said the suspect never approached the family for the marriage proposal.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2023.