Yet another acid attack: 2 women, minor injured

* Assailants escape; victims shifted to nearby hospital

* Punjab CM takes notice of incident, seeks inquiry report from CCPO

By Imran Chaudhry

LAHORE: Two women, along with a two-year-old girl, received burn injuries when unidentified men hurled acid at them in Islampura area on Sunday.

The women were on their way back from a market when unidentified men on a bike intercepted them and threw acid on them.

The victims were immediately taken to a hospital, where they were given treatment and by the time this report was filed, the doctors had stated their condition to be out of danger.

Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif took notice of the incident and sought a report from the Lahore CCPO.

Following notice from higher authorities, police detained Hasnain, the husband of acid victim Arooj as well as her father-in-law, which multiplied the family’s problems.

The family members said they were in turmoil since half of their family was looking after the victims in the hospital while the other half was busy in dealing with police.

According to details, two unidentified motorcyclists threw acid on the women and the child when they were on their way back home. The assailants managed to escape from the scene.

The injured were identified as 24-year-old Arooj, wife of Hasnain, her husband’s sister 23-year-old Saba and her two-year-old daughter Fatima. All received burn injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. According to hospital sources, the acid was thrown on their arms and feet, while their faces had been saved.

Police said the attack could be an outcome of personal grudge, however, the real reason could only be ascertained after proper investigations. A case was registered against unidentified persons and police have started their search for the assailants.

Meanwhile, organisations working for the rights of women have expressed grave concerns over growing incidents of acid attacks and demanded the authorities concerned to bring the culprits to book and award them exemplary punishment.

As per statistics, on average 200 acid-throwing incidents are registered in Pakistan every year, with women being the subject of torture in two-thirds of the cases, while other cases are against men and boys, usually related to refusal of forced sexual favours or marriage arrangements.

On May 10, 2010, Lower House of parliament had unanimously passed the Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Bill, 2010, so as to protect women from incidents of acid throwing.

It recommended that that acid throwers must be punished with life imprisonment or a jail term of not less than 14 years along with a minimum fine of Rs 1 million.

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