Ghosts of horror

Ghosts long forgotten from our past have risen up reminding us of deeds so horrible that they are difficult to imagine. More than a decade ago, we first heard the story of Fakhra Younus, the wife of former parliamentarian, Bilal Mustafa Khar, who was accused of hurling acid on her. She was left terribly scarred and with a face which would never look fully human again. For some months, Fakhra remained in the headlines. Then slowly, she faded away from the news and from our thoughts.

But Fakhra, of course, had to live with herself and with what had happened. For the past several years, she had been living in Rome and receiving medical and psychological treatment arranged for her with the help of Tehmina Durrani, the stepmother of Bilal Khar. But it seems as though the agony of a life with a permanently scarred face, which even multiple reconstructive surgeries could not cure, finally took their toll on the young women. Fakhra committed suicide on March 17, apparently haunted by a past which she would not shake off. It is also reported that she had been facing a number of financial difficulties.

But, perhaps, the real reason for her agony was the fact that the person she accused of the crime and who many are convinced was indeed behind it went unpunished. Bilal Khar has denied that he carried out the terrible act which destroyed her life; he has said another person by the same name may have been responsible. This obviously sounds illogical, to put it mildly. Fakhra has now been buried. The question is whether her case will be too. Legal experts say the acid attack case against Khar cannot be reopened because too much time has elapsed since her acquittal. But he could be tried for driving Fakhra to suicide. How and what happens will say a great deal about the kind of society we live in and whether it is even possible for justice to be meted out equally, without bias, given the social and political status held by the Khars.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2012.