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No let-up: Acid attack survivor recounts harrowing ordeal in Lahore

An acid attack survivor, who lost her eyesight in the heinous crime allegedly committed by her husband and brother-in-law, has come forward demanding that justice be served.

Naila, a resident of Lahore, recounted her ordeal at the hands of her in-laws while speaking to anchor Mansoor Ali Khan in Express News show ‘To The Point’ on Sunday.

She said she had been living with her parents for eight to nine months, having left the residence of her husband due to continued abuse and ill-treatment.

Sadly recalling the ill-fated day, Naila said her younger sister, brother and father were walking to a nearby market when two motorcycles stopped near them.

“[My husband] Arshad and [one of] his relative[s] Bilal were seated on one bike while my brother-in-law Mohammad Khan and a man, Mustafa, were seated on the other,” she said.

Naila said her husband then proceeded to throw acid on her face from a bottle. All four men then fled within moments, she added.

“I fell to the ground, with my brother and father calling for help… instead of chasing the culprits,” she said, adding that neither the ambulance nor the police reached the scene.

“My clothes were in tatters… and I was exposed to all eyes around me,” said the acid victim. “A shopkeeper then realised the situation and gave me a piece of cloth to cover myself,” she added.

Naila went on to say that she was taken in a rickshaw to Civil Hospital, “but not before the acid had made its way into my eyes”.

“This is not the life I wanted to live,” the young girl lamented. “Now, I can’t even see anything… my world came crashing down overnight.”
Naila had protested outside an anti-terrorism court in Lahore on October 17, seeking the attention of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Army Chief to her plight. She called for revoking the pre-arrest bail granted to her brother-in-law and putting him behind bars.

Naila’s husband has been in jail since the incident which took place in July.

An FIR had been registered against the accused on the complaint of the victim’s father on July 18 under Section 336-B of the Pakistan Penal Code which pertains to punishment for causing permanent disfigurement, and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act which pertains to punishment for acts of terrorism.

The Express Tribune