Violence against women: Man arrested for throwing acid at woman, child

Says he objected to her working with men; doctors say the child has 30 per cent burns.

MULTAN:

A man was arrested on Thursday for throwing acid at a woman and her daughter. Police said the man had confessed to the crime saying he wanted to punish the woman “for bad character”.

Police said 32-year-old Shakira Bibi*, a resident of Chak 92/10-R, in Khanewal, was a daily wager and worked at a cotton field. They said she was on her way to work with her 11-year-old daughter when they were attacked. The assailant, riding a motorcycle, fled.

The injured were taken to the Khanewal district headquarters hospital, where

Medical Superintendent Dr Muhammad Zahid said that the child was 30 per cent burned, while the woman had 20 per cent burns, mostly on her neck and chest.

Both of them had been shifted to Nishtar Hospital in Multan, where doctors later told The Express Tribune that the victims were both out of danger.



An FIR was registered against a nominated suspect with the Saddar police under the Anti Terrorism Act.

Police said the woman told them that the attacker had been threatening her on a phone for over three weeks. She said he would call her identifying himself as some Muhammad Nasir. When she would abuse him, he would threaten to “ruin her life”.

Later, District Police Officer Rana Ayaz Saleem told The Express Tribune that the suspect had been arrested by a special team constituted for the purpose.

He said the team had raided 13 places before the suspect was arrested from a hospital, where he had gone seeking first aid for a hand injury. He said his hand was also injured as he threw a jug full of acid at the woman and her daughter. The hospital administration had caught him on a suspicion and informed the police.

The DPO also announced appreciation certificates and cash prizes for the police team that made the arrests.

The DPO quoted the 29-year-old criminal as saying that he had attacked the woman because he doubted her character. He said he had seen her working with men and had stopped her.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2014.