Five of family sprayed with acid

Violence was said to be act of revenge for refusal of marriage proposal

RAHIM YAR KHAN:

Motorcyclists allegedly poured acid on five people, including two young children, of the same family out of resentment for not accepting the suspect’s proposal.

The injured were shifted to the hospital.

Police arrested the main accused and registered a case against him.

Nasreen Bibi, a resident of Rajanpur Kalan, told the police in her complaint that she had gone to her father Riyaz Ahmed's house in Mouza Kakri to attend the wedding ceremony of her sister, Yasmin Akhtar.

Last night, after delivering the wedding gifts at his uncle Khursheed Ahmed's house in Mauza Muhammad Pur Lamma, she had been on her way home on a motorcycle along with her brothers, Waqas Ahmad and Allah Ditta, and her children, Mumtaz Ahmad, 6, and three-month-old Zohra.

When they had been going past the cemetery of Muhammad Pur Lama, Naveed Ahmed, the suspect, along with his unknown companions, allegedly intercepted them and threw acid on them, telling them that this was to avenge their refusal of his proposal for her sister.

Nasreen Bibi, Waqas Ahmed, Allah Ditta, Mumtaz Ahmed and three-month-old Zohra sustained burn injuries.

The injured were shifted to the Sheikh Zayed Hospital where their condition was said to be out of danger.

On receiving the information about the incident, District Police Officer Rizwan Umar Gondal took notice and ordered immediate arrest of the accused.

Following the instructions, the police took timely action and arrested Naveed Ahmed, the main accused.

Police also mounted a search for suspect’s accomplices.

In a similar incident a few days ago, unidentified suspects had thrown acid on Shakir Ali, a 17-year-old resident of Khanpur.

The victim is undergoing treatment for his burn injuries.

In March this year, a woman had sustained burn injuries after she came under an acid attack.

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 in 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 in 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 had registered a case against the suspects.

In June 2021, a young girl, who worked as a domestic help, was reportedly attacked with acid over refusal to 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 Sadhu 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.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2023.