Three sisters attacked with acid

QUETTA: Three teenage sisters received serious burn injuries on their faces when masked men riding a motorcycle threw acid on them on Thursday in Kalat district, some 145 kilometres from here.

It was the second such incident this month in which girls were targeted by acid, damaging their faces. The victims identified as 20-year-old Fatima, 14-yearold Sakina and eight-year-old Saima were on their way home when two masked persons riding a motorcycle threw acid on their faces and fled the scene near Babo Mullah of the Kalat district. As a result they received serious acid burn injuries on their faces, hands and legs. They were first rushed to the Civil Hospital Kalat and then to Quetta for treatment.

The Baloch National Front (BNF) staged a demonstration and blocked the National Highway in Kalat to protest the incident. Local residents said a few days ago, unknown persons distributed pamphlets in Kalat, including shopping centres and NGO offices, threatening that if women stepped out of their homes without being accompanied by a male member of the family, they should be ready to face dire consequences. The handbills carried the name of a little known organisation ‘Rahay Raast’. Police have launched an investigation into the matter.

However, no case had been registered till the filing of this report. An identical incident took place on April 13 in which 13-year-old Gul Begum and 11-year-old Dur Jamal were made targets of an acid attack as they passed through a shopping centre in the town of Dalbandin, some 500km from Quetta. In the border town of Chaman, two women had also suffered serious injuries a year ago when unknown persons threw acid on them and fled.