Bushra. PHOTO: FILE
It was only a day ago that Bushra had a beautiful face and dreams of a future. Little did she know, as she went to sleep, that she would wake up in the worst way possible. With a single splash of acid on her, a man caused excruciating acid burn injuries and shattered her hopes. This stage actress and singer of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is struggling with the wounds. And acid continues to be sold openly for as less as Rs20 in bazaars.
According to Ijaz Khan, SHO Pabbi police station, Shameem, a resident of the Khudrizai area, reported that she was sleeping at her house along with her son and her daughter Bushra, when Shaukat allegedly barged into their house and threw acid on her daughter. As a result, her daughter received severe burn injuries.
An official of the Lady Reading Hospital told The Express Tribune that they have provided initial treatment to the victim, saying she has suffered around 33 per cent burn injuries on her face and shoulder but her condition is stable. He further said they referred her to the Khyber Teaching Hospital. Another official on condition of anonymity said that she has been discharged after treatment.
The alleged perpetrator is a Pashto drama producer. Over a money row, he allegedly threw acid on Bushra in the wee hours of Saturday, in the Pabbi police station limits, district Nowshera. According to Shameem, Bushra worked with the accused in his drama project. When he didn’t pay her, Bushra demanded it. The alleged perpetrator got infuriated and committed this heinous crime for revenge.
Local residents said the incident took place after a marriage proposal was rejected by the actress; however the police do not confirm any such reason behind the incident.
There were at least 150 registered cases of acid throwing in Pakistan in 2012. Reports indicate that in a majority of these cases, the trigger is disputes, may they be property-related, marital or familial. The jahez (dowry) factor is also common. A majority of acid-throwing victims are young girls up to the age of 25.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 23rd, 2013.
COMMENTS (6)
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@Islam's respect for women: But how do you teach self contol and respect to barbarians who only think of women as cattle! Education is one way but we all know how long that will take to have an effect and in the mean time, women should just burn? I say an eye for an eye is the only way to teach them brutes that if they ever think of burning or raping a woman, they will get the same in return in public and with interest!
@Che:
Banning things won't stop this evil. Even HANDS strangle people. Should we ban hands too? No. It's all about SELF CONTROL - not acting on emotion and respect.
Yes, the respect for women shown by Muslims never ceases to amaze me.
No, we don't need to "ban" any and everything that can be used to harm another. We do need more SELF CONTROL and RESPECT. Heck, hands could be banned - they STRANGLE people. People are so out of control today! This creep deserves capital punishment.
I suggest we advocate for death penalty for idiots who do this ..
I fail to understand why such chemicals are sold openly! Why can't we have a crackdown on this like drugs not that it'll matter much but still. I think the only punishment for such barbaric crimes is the woman should throw acid back on the guy's face and his private parts, ouch! only then will guys in this jahil society learn. Like they say in Islam, an eye for an eye! Till we have those kinds of punishments here and preferably in public, we will not see any change.
Common enough in south Asia. We have no right to be called civilized. The criminal judicial system is in hibernation.
Our sympathies for the young woman