IN INDIA, A WOMAN DOUSED WITH ACID FOR THE FIFTH TIME. SUCH ATTACKS ARE GROWING IN THE COUNTRY FOR EXAMPLE, WOMEN ARE "PUNISHED" FOR REFUSING TO GET MARRIED

Acid attack survivors protest outside the parliament building in Delhi. Among their demands are state subsidies for plastic surgery and advanced training of medical personnel. December 18, 2014

Vipin Kumar / Hindustan Times / Getty Images

In early July 2017, a resident of the Indian city of Lucknow was doused with acid on her face and neck; this is the fifth time she has been mutilated in this manner. Such attacks, known as "acid attacks", are not uncommon in India, with estimates ranging from a few hundred to a thousand a year. According to the victim, the attack on her was carried out by the same man who attacked her in previous years; The police have not yet found the "corpus delicti" in the incident. Meduza talks about the phenomenon of "acid attacks" in India.

FIFTH ATTACK WITH ACID

A 35-year-old resident of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, whose name has not been released, said that she was subjected to a fifth acid attack. The attack took place on the territory of a special hostel for women survivors of violence. According to her, the attacker climbed over the wall and splashed acid in her face while she was drawing water from a pump in the yard, and then fled.

All this happened despite the fact that the woman was under round-the-clock police protection due to previous attacks. In 2008, two men raped and doused her with acid over a property dispute. Since then, she has been poured with acid twice more (in 2012 and 2013) - according to her, these were the same men; so they tried to get her to drop the charges. In March 2017, they also forced her to drink acid while she was on a train with her daughter.

The guilt of the men has not yet been proven: according to some media reports, they are under investigation, but in April 2017 they were released on bail. Police officers also said that the investigation has not yet found the corpus delicti in the last attack: there is no evidence that some person poured acid on the woman. According to them, an empty vial of acid was found inside the hostel, in the toilet, where the victim herself had gone shortly before. Forensic experts also noticed that only the face and neck of the woman were burned, and no traces of acid were found on the clothes she was wearing.

The chief minister of the state, the Hindu figure Yogi Adityanath, also questioned the woman's testimony; according to The Guardian, he called the hostel "absolutely safe place", which is under police protection. At the same time, The Independent notes that the police officer guarding her was forbidden to enter the hostel, since it is intended only for women.

Now the woman is in the intensive care unit with chemical burns; her husband says she is in a difficult psychological condition. He is also outraged that his wife was attacked again, even though she was supposed to be under 24-hour police protection.

ACID VIOLENCE

The victim worked for the Indian chain Sheroes, cafes set up by activists that provide jobs for victims of acid attacks. Rape and acid attacks are frequent crimes against women in India. According to official data alone, in 2015, 249 cases were registered in the country when women were doused with acid, and in 2016 there were already about 300; their number is growing every year. Activists say that in reality this figure is at least twice as high. Similar attacks have also been called "acid violence"; in 2013, the non-profit organization Stop Acid Attacks was created in the country, which defends the rights of victims of attacks and helps them cope with the psychological consequences of what happened.

One of the activists of the organization, Lakshmi Agarwal, is a girl who, at the age of 15, was attacked with acid by a 32-year-old man, whose advances she rejected. After many years of litigation, in 2013 she achieved tougher rules for the sale of acid: since then, it can only be sold after presenting an identity card, and the store must report every fact of purchase to the police. At the same time, such attacks were singled out as a separate category of crimes; The maximum penalty for an acid attack is ten years in prison.

A year later, Lakshmi became the face of Viva N Diva clothing brand. In a commentary to Mashable, Lakshmi explained why she is involved in such shootings: “It took me a while to show my face to people. But then other victims of the attacks saw me and thought: if she can, then so can we. People tend to victimize acid attack victims – but we need to end that way of thinking.”

About a quarter of such crimes in India occur in the state of Uttar Pradesh - the most populated in the country. Acid Survivors Trust International, an international organization to help victims of acid attacks, notes that there are men among the victims of such attacks, but the vast majority are women. The most common causes of attacks are sexual harassment or marriage proposals that the woman refused, as well as domestic conflicts and property disputes. At the end of 2016, India passed an amendment to the disability law; it is now also awarded to victims of acid attacks, which gives them the opportunity to receive compensation and work in government institutions. The problem of acid attacks is also acute in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Colombia.

all my books can be purchased directly from me in Goa, and they can also be bought through the network by ordering books on-line

A 19-year-old Rajasthan man was sentenced to death for raping a seven-month-old girl. Recently, the number of sexual crimes has increased in India, the country is in the ranking of the most dangerous for women. Russian women who lived in India told Snob about the place of a woman in Indian society, harassment and rape attempts

India, 6 May 2018. The man in the photo is accused of raping and setting fire to a 17-year-old girl. Photo: AFP

According to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, India has become the most dangerous country in the world for women: about 40 crimes are committed against them every hour. The problem has become so acute that in April of this year, the Indian government introduced the death penalty for the rape of girls under 12 years old and increased the minimum prison term for those whose victims were under 16 to 20 years. sexual harassment and voyeurism.

Fatal sex crimes became punishable by death after the publicity of the gang rape of a student on a bus, which occurred in 2012 in Delhi. The girl was abused by six men and thrown out of the bus to the side of the road. Doctors fought for her life, but they failed to save the girl. After that, mass protests took place across the country, and the government was forced to toughen punishment for crimes of a sexual nature.

Another high-profile story happened in 2017. In northern India, a 10-year-old girl gave birth, who became pregnant as a result of rape. The pregnancy of the girl became known for a period of more than 20 weeks, when it was already too late to have an abortion. At the same time, the girl herself did not know about the child, she was told that she had a large stone in her stomach that needed to be removed. After a caesarean section, the girl's family abandoned the child, and her uncle was detained on suspicion of rape.

However, not only local women, but also tourists are raped in India. In early May of this year, in the Indian state of Kerala, the police found the decapitated corpse of a woman who was identified as a 33-year-old Latvian tourist who had disappeared a month earlier. The woman came to India to be treated for depression and disappeared. The police found that two local residents drugged her, raped her, and then beheaded her. The suspects were detained.

In India, women suffer not only from sexual crimes. In Jaipur, a young man poured acid on a woman after refusing to marry him. At the same time, the victim was already officially married and had three children.

A 35-year-old woman from Lucknow was the victim of an acid attack for the fifth time a year ago. She was first raped and doused with acid in 2008 over a property dispute. The same men threw acid in her face in 2012 and 2013 to force her to drop the charge. The next time, they made me drink acid in front of my daughter. The men were arrested but soon released on bail. After that, the woman was attacked on the territory of a special guarded shelter.

Russian women who lived and worked in India for some time told Snob how they escaped annoying attention, harassment and what they did to avoid becoming victims of rape.

"Village men perceive white women as porn stars"

Ekaterina, 33 years old

Ekaterina has been living in India for several years. She first came to the country in 2010, two years later she took a yoga teacher training course in Dharamsala and got a job there as an English translator for Russian tourists. For three years she lived in India for half a year, and then returned to Russia for 1-2 months. In 2015, Ekaterina moved to Delhi, found a job there in her specialty, and last year she married an Indian.

Now I work as a teacher, I have both Indian children and expat children in my students. In advanced and wealthy families, parents invest a lot of money in the comprehensive education of children. In poor families, parents sometimes do not send their daughters to school, as they will still be housewives. The government is trying to fight this and organizes all sorts of courses (such as cutting and sewing) for women, creating jobs. Therefore, in India, you can buy fabrics with handmade embroidery very cheaply.

Before marriage, from 2015 to 2017, I rented accommodation in Delhi in various areas, including disadvantaged ones. She went and went everywhere alone. Sometimes I returned from work late, after midnight, but I didn’t get into the story. In large cities and tourist areas, it is quite safe for a woman if you do not get drunk to unconsciousness in nightclubs, do not accept drinks and sweets from strangers (there were cases when drugs were added to sweets), do not wear too revealing clothes, do not go to visit and do not invite to your room, do not get into cars with strangers or unfamiliar men. It is better to meet someone in public places. You should not travel alone to non-tourist places, villages, it is better to travel as part of a group or with a man. You need to behave confidently and, in case of danger, shout loudly and threaten the police.

There are a lot of foreigners in Delhi. Most locals treat them with respect, because they think that all foreigners are very rich. Only villagers perceive white women as porn stars (in Western films they show everything on TV) and stare at them.

Traditional Indian society does not accept revealing clothes: women in mini, tight and low-cut clothes are considered prostitutes. In large cities, this is treated more calmly, you can even see Indian women in such clothes.

India is very different from north to south and from west to east. Matriarchy reigns in some northeastern states and in some places in the south. The woman is the head of the family and inherits land and property. In other parts of the country, there is a rigid patriarchy: a woman becomes a housewife after marriage, even if she is rich and well educated. In some Hindu-Orthodox families, women do not go out alone without a husband or his relatives, they sit at home. In such families, inter-caste and inter-religious marriages are not welcome, and often such love stories end in “honor killings”. Marriages are usually concluded by agreement, in accordance with the caste, the position of the family in society, material wealth, education, etc. Sometimes a dauri (dowry) is demanded from the bride's family - many crimes against women occur for this reason. It happens that after the wedding, the husband's family asks for more and more money, morally and physically put pressure on the woman, sometimes it ends in suicide. By law, it is forbidden to demand dauri, but many follow the traditions. All of the above applies to orthodox Hindus from northern and central India. Fortunately, in large cities, everything is not so: now there are a lot of modern families where women work and do not have any restrictions from their husbands. Many Indians study abroad, many have relatives in Europe and America.

Most of the crimes against women involve Indian women, not foreign women.

The government is trying to fight crimes against women: there are many crisis centers and helplines in the country. You can even complain to the police about obscene suggestions and comments from men. I know a case when a woman hailed a taxi, and a pervert taxi driver was driving and masturbating. She filmed it on her phone camera, pressed the panic button on the app, and the police arrived. He was arrested and later sentenced to a real prison term.

India, Mumbai. October 10, 2014. Chinese Reshma brother-in-law and friends tied up and doused with acid. The court awarded her compensation of 100,000 rupees ($1,600) to be paid within 15 days. Five months later she still hasn't received a penny Photo: Indranil Mukkherjee / AFP

"The vast majority of Indian men are horny maniacs"

Maria, 31 years old

Maria lived twice in India for 9-10 months, with her boyfriend and alone. And these two times turned out to be very contrasting. After the second trip, the girl became disillusioned with Indian men "for the rest of her life."

In 2010, my boyfriend opened a yoga center in the southern state of Karnataka, and I met tourists and took care of organizational issues.

Two years later, I returned to India alone, with nostalgic feelings, dreaming of seeing the state of Rajasthan, returning to the old places, and that's when my rose-colored glasses broke. I settled in Jaipur and got a job as a teacher of Russian and English at a school. I had only 10 minutes to go to work, but they were enough in full: many men just stopped and frankly stared, every day someone came up and asked me for a phone number, invited me somewhere. They usually started with What is your name?, and the third or fourth question was already Do you have a boyfriend? Can I be your boyfriend? After some time, I simply stopped answering their questions, because communication with a simple Indian man always ends up like this. There are exceptions - rich, well-educated men who studied abroad and saw the world.

Sometimes men just asked me to take a picture with me, and then tried to grope. More than once I was grabbed by different places by men passing by on a moped. The vast majority of Indian men are preoccupied maniacs. In Jaipur, I completely forgot that you can wear clothes that expose your legs and shoulders. I dressed very closed, and then there was a little less attention.

Sometimes I went out of town to the sea. Once I went far from the main beach. A teenager came up to me and started asking me something, and then tried to grab my chest. I was frightened, cracked him on the arm and rushed to run. Then I thought that I could handle the frail guy, but then I got really scared.

I had expat friends in Jaipur. We sometimes went to hang out with them in nightclubs. One day I went home alone, in a tuk-tuk. It was about three in the morning. When we arrived at the house, the rickshaw demanded that I pay more than the agreed amount. I thought he was talking about money, but then the rickshaw jumped out of the tuk-tuk and grabbed my chest. I screamed like crazy. The rickshaw got scared and ran away.

I have also been to Goa. They got used to white people there, but even there an unpleasant story happened to me. We - three guys and three girls - went there to celebrate the New Year. But we couldn’t dance in any club: the locals surrounded us in a tight ring and tried to hug the girls, even if the guys tried to block us.

And these stories are not scary compared to some others. At the time when I lived in India, the story about a tourist from Denmark thundered all over the world. She came to Delhi alone, got lost and followed some men who promised to show her the way. They raped her with the whole crowd.

Until recently, I believed in people and tried not to stigmatize men. Until I had an unfortunate incident with a teacher from our school. He was a respected man, with a good reputation, married, with children. He was the last person I would have suspected of indecent behavior. One evening I was returning home and ran into him not far from my house. He said that he was waiting for his friend, he was late for half an hour, and asked if it was possible to wait for him at my place. I naively agreed. Half an hour later, I realized that a friend is unlikely to come. My colleague was not going to call him, but he began to behave strangely, and then suddenly asked: Can I kiss you? I replied that it was probably time for him to go home, and threatened to tell his wife and the headmaster about everything.

By the end of my stay in India, I wanted to crack every man who came up to me. I left Jaipur with the feeling that I had had enough India for the rest of my life and that I was completely disillusioned with the Indians. They don’t stare at local women like that and they won’t come up with an offer to have sex, at least there is some ostentatious respect. But foreign women, from their point of view, sleep with everyone.

“It is impossible to avoid attention and prejudice towards yourself”

Anastasia, 27 years old

Anastasia married an Indian and periodically visits his homeland in Bangalore. It is difficult for her to get used to the traditional position of a woman in Indian society.

In principle, it is not dangerous for Indian women to walk the streets if they dress and behave according to the traditions of society. Local girls who choose their own partner, place of work, study, meet people from a different caste, go to parties, go against the system. Their behavior is not approved, and they can get into trouble.

Foreigners need to be extra careful. Due to the color of their skin and the stereotypes inherent in Indian society, white women are considered easy-going, frivolous and vulgar. Therefore, it is better for white girls not to go out at night, you need to behave and look modest. Ideally, you should go out with one of the Indians - this will make your life much easier. Since I went everywhere with my husband and mother-in-law, they protected me from many dangers. However, avoiding attention and prejudice against yourself is impossible. Thanks to the constant protection in the person of my husband's relatives, I did not encounter open manifestations of harassment. But she constantly caught the greasy looks of men on herself: many stare and undress with their eyes, regardless of age and marital status.

In India, you need to break yourself in many ways, be flexible, adapt. Indian society is absolutely patriarchal, so the woman here is engaged in housework, serving her husband's parents and raising children. People often ask me not “How is your studies or work?”, but “How is work in the kitchen? What are you cooking for your husband? It was very difficult to get used to it.

About 25 years ago, Geeta Mahur's husband poured acid on her and their two daughters simply because they annoyed him. Since then, Gita has continued to live under the same roof as Indertain.

Acid attacks in India are not so rare: local men often take revenge on girls who have refused them or annoying wives. About 1,000 women in this country are exposed to acid attacks every year. Some survivors are helped by human rights organizations to get settled in life.

Gita Mahurna (pictured with her daughter) was a meek wife who did everything to please her husband Inderjta. Nevertheless, the man was often annoyed, he was angry that Gita was not able to give birth to a son, and once he was completely furious and planned to punish his wife and her girls. He shouted: “Don't mess with me or I will mutilate your faces.” The tragedy happened at night, when the mother and children were sleeping next to each other. Inderjte doused his wife and two young daughters with sulfuric acid. Krishna, the youngest of the sisters, died a month after her father's attack, while the eldest Nitu managed to survive, but she became blind. Gita herself partially lost her sight, human rights activists helped her and other similar victims of acid attacks find work in one of the cafes. Gita even posed for a charity calendar.

The other day, Gita decided to tell her story to The Mirror. Today she is 43 years old, and she does not regret at all that she stayed with her tyrant husband after the tragedy. “When I left my husband, people hated us. They laughed at us and looked on in disgust. Neighbors even asked when we would finally move out. I was afraid for our future, I thought about how I would raise a child alone. When the wounds healed, I decided to return to my husband. For many years he was kind to me, we even continued to sleep in the same bed, and we had another daughter, ”Gita Mahur shared with reporters. Gita continues to earn in the cafe.

Inderjte himself says that he cannot look without tears at his mutilated daughter, who lost her sight through his fault. “I regret that I asked my friends for chemicals… If they hadn’t washed them off with water, but wiped them off with a rag, the damage would not have been so terrible,” the man told reporters. 27-year-old Nitu also found the strength to forgive her father, but their relationship is still strained. “I never allow myself to be sad and angry. I don't consider myself weak. Every person has ups and downs in life. Everyone has to fight to survive. It's just that people like me have to fight harder than others. He disfigured my face, but my dreams and willpower remained intact, ”said the girl. (Pictured with mother).

Not so long ago, Nitu had an operation on his eyes. The mother believed that the surgeons would be able to restore her daughter's sight. However, doctors managed to only slightly improve the situation.

Women showcased dresses from top Indian designers such as Rohita Bela, Rannu Gill and Archana Kohhar. Most of these models were victims of violence by their husbands or close relatives.

Make Love Not Scars, an organization that helps women get back to normal after acid attacks, arranged for them to be on the show.

The charity wants to draw public attention to India's growing scourge as more women die or are permanently disfigured by having their relatives throw acid in their faces.

A young woman named Mina Khatun, who has a minor son, admits that she was very nervous before the fashion show. Her husband poured acid in her face. Mina says:

« People often turn their backs on me on the street. After the tragedy, I faced many problems in communicating with people, but nevertheless, I decided that I should move on and continue to build my life, no matter what.«.

At the moment, Khatun has her own mobile phone store, which she opened thanks to Make Love Not Scars.

Bano Qureshi

The organization also helped 20-year-old Bano Qureshi, who performed at New York Fashion Week last year and is currently writing a book that will hit shelves in 2018.

Qureshi suffered three years ago from her brother-in-law, who mistook her for his wife. Previously, she was also afraid to leave the house: “I was afraid of the reaction of people on the street. Some passers-by looked away, others asked what had happened to me. They also said that no one would marry me because my face was ugly. But I'm proud of myself. I want everyone to know that it’s not the face that makes a beautiful woman, but the heart.”

According to official information, every year in India, about a hundred women become victims of acid attacks. But Tanya Singh, Vice President of Make Love Not Scars, believes that the true number of tragedies is measured in the thousands.

She says that local authorities do not report all cases because some women die before criminal charges are filed, and some choose to stay with their families who disfigured them:

« We had a case where a woman was attacked three times by her husband, and still continues to live with him«.

Ria Sharma (left) and Tanya Singh, founders of Make Love Not Scars

Says Tanya Singh: “Many women refuse to reveal their faces when they first come to Make Love Not Scars. They say: “We won't do it because we are ugly”, and we explain to them that this is not true - not they, but society is ugly. The fashion show is a chance to realize that they deserve recognition and love.

Now they can go back to their house, to their street, and tell the world that they have no need to hide their faces and scars. On the contrary, the surrounding world must change its way of thinking.”

Tue, 12/09/2017 - 21:24

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to meet headlines on the Internet that say that this or that woman was splashed in the face with acid. Especially such news comes from countries such as Bangladesh, Uganda, Cambodia, Nepal, India and Pakistan. Acid attacks in these countries are already considered a common way to destroy a woman's life. But if the criminals are hellish offspring, then the situation with the victims is completely different. How do survivors of an acid attack feel? What led to this? How did they survive this incredible agony, grueling recovery and were able to return to normal life again? This will be told by the women who suffered this terrible nightmare, and they talked about it in the IN / VISIBLE project.

Flavia

"My name is Flavia. I am 29 years old and I live in Kampala, Uganda. I was attacked in 2009 when I was in my second year of university."

"One day I came home first. I heard that someone was walking behind. When I turned around, someone splashed acid in my face and ran away. I did not understand what it was. My face began to burn and hurt. I started to cry, and run around taking off my clothes. Then I fell, but I forced myself to get up and get help."

"I ran to the store next door. The store owner's little son stood in shock. People crowded around me. Then a family friend saw me and took me to the hospital."

"I was furious, sad, depressed. I cried all the time. I missed the way I looked before. I didn't want to admit that I would look like this for the rest of my life."

"My family and friends who were by my side helped me a lot. I spent seven months in the hospital. We don't know who it was. I have no proof. I really would like to ask the person who did this: did? But I stopped thinking about it."

"At first I didn't dare to leave the house. Then, when I started to go out, I was scared every time when someone was behind me. I couldn't go anywhere for a long time. I continued to hide my face for many years. First with a scarf, then I started wearing a wig. I didn't want anyone to see my scars."

"In the end, I've come to terms with the fact that people will look at me. Recently, I started going out without a scarf. In the end it's me. Even if I hide the scars, they will still be there. People just have to accept me for who I am ."

"Now I really love myself. I look in the mirror, take pictures, put on makeup. This situation has taught me to appreciate inner beauty more, and even in other people. So I try to be proud of what is in my heart."

Christine

Kristin was only 16 when she was attacked by her boyfriend Moses' ex-girlfriend.

After 3 years, Kristin and Moses are still together and they have a little daughter, and the girl who attacked was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Kristin is at home most of the time and hates being in public.

Sidra

Sidra was 15 years old when she was doused with acid.

In 2011, Sidra stayed overnight at a friend's house. She woke up in the middle of the night feeling her friend's brother molesting her.

The girl began to scream, and the mother of her friend, frightened by the scandal in which her son would be involved, ordered him to pour acid on a 15-year-old girl.

This left Sidra virtually blind. The boy and his mother are now in prison.

Nusrat

"My name is Nusrat. I am from Muzzafargar in Pakistan and I am 32 years old. I married a man with a large family. It so happened that I broke off the engagement of my brother, with my husband's sister."

"When my brother was old enough, he refused to marry her. I supported him by getting him married to the girl he really wanted to marry. That's why my husband and his brother attacked me."

“One morning, when I was staying in a room with my husband, he threw acid on me. At first I didn’t understand what had happened. Then my clothes started falling off me. It seemed that my body was on fire. When I smelled the fumes, I realized that it's an acid."

"Screaming, I ran out of the room, and my husband's brother threw more acid in my face. I screamed so hard that people came running. My husband's brother said, told them that I poured acid on myself."

"My neighbors took me to the hospital. When I was in the hospital, my photo was printed in the newspapers. My face was terribly disfigured. My husband's relatives showed these photos to my children and said that their mother had turned into a monster."

“But when I first saw them in court for the first time after leaving the hospital, they ran to me. Later they reassured me, saying: “Mom, you will be the same as before. Do not Cry"."

"I dropped the charges against my husband. I just wanted to go back to him and take revenge. So he asked me to sign a document saying that I would not harm him. I refused. In the end, my relatives convinced me to leave him alone and he divorced me."

“I was in the hospital for five months. When I was discharged, I moved to my mother’s house. I was in a very bad condition. I couldn’t even walk on my own. I didn’t even know how much my face was hurt. I fainted when I saw myself in the mirror for the first time."

"People who saw me said that I would die soon. They looked at me with fear. I wanted to kill myself with it."

Makima

Makima was doused with acid because she refused the offer.

The neighbor wanted to marry her, but Makima rejected him.

While Makima was sleeping, his mother entered her house and poured acid on her face. She later paid Makima, so Makima dropped the charges against her.

Makima dreams of becoming a police officer to fight for justice.

Sokneang

Sokneang was attacked with acid while sitting at home watching TV

Why did this happen? The woman was jealous of her husband for Sokneang, who had a close relationship with him.

Sokneang suffered severe burns to her face and the left side of her body.

Chanteun

"My name is Chantheun. I am 38 years old. I was born in Kampong Spey, Cambodia. I was attacked with acid in September 1997."

"I was working at a club in Phnom Penh at the time, where I met a married man with whom I had a brief affair. His wife found out about it."

"Once, when I went for a walk with my sister, his wife was walking behind us. Then we had an argument with her. The next morning, this woman and three of her relatives drove past me on two motorcycles and poured 2 liters of acid on me."

"A man I met at work came to see me at the hospital. He also financially supported my mother, giving her about $100 every time he visited her for the first two to three months. After a while, he stopped doing that. because I was scared of my wife. I didn't file a police report against his wife and family because most of my sisters live in Phnom Penh. I was afraid they might be attacked too."

"In February 1998, I was discharged from the hospital. After that, my family looked after me. When I went to my hometown, the neighbors cried in sympathy for me."

"After the attack, I was ashamed of my ugliness. Wherever I went, I always wore a hat, a mask and sunglasses. It's quite difficult when everyone is looking at you. But now I'm brave enough to face people. myself."

"Three years after the attack, when I was in a much better condition, the woman who attacked me ordered her son to kill me. He came to my sister's house in Phnom Penh, where I lived at that time, and tried to strangle me. But the neighbors saw him and yelled "thief!" because they thought he was robbing me."

"He jumped out of the window and ran away. The police chased him and ordered him to stop, but he didn't. That's why the police ended up shooting him. I think it was because their deeds had bad karma."

farida

"My name is Farida. I am 40 years old and I live in my sister's house in Manikgan in Bangladesh."

"My husband was a drug addict and a gambler. He owed so much money that he had to sell our house. I was furious and said that I would leave him. That same night, when I was sleeping, he doused me with acid and locked the door for two castle. My whole body began to burn, and I fell off the bed onto my son, who was sleeping on the floor."

"I screamed so loudly that all the neighbors ran. They had to break down the door. It was dark inside, and all they could see was a black spot on the pillow. So at first they thought that my husband cut off my head. But then my son, who at that time was 5 years old, said that I was lying on the floor.

“That was 16 years ago. I spent six months in the hospital.

"It was unbearable. One of my eyes was sealed, the other eye melted, and my nose disappeared. When I ate, the rice fell out through a hole in my cheek. I had gangrene. If they didn't bathe and change my bandages every day, I would stink. I screamed in pain."

"My family is poor and my father had to sell the land to pay for my treatment. From time to time I went hungry. When I was released from the hospital and I returned home, in which I lay in bed under a mosquito net for days on end. This went on almost three years. When people came to visit, they were scared of me. It was unbearable for them to look at me."

"I wanted to commit suicide twice, but I stopped for the sake of my son. His happiness is my happiness. I am a mother, I must continue to live for him. My son has always been by my side."

"Thanks to operations funded by the Bangladesh Acid Relief Fund, I am now better. The cramps and pain have eased. I even look better. But I still don't like meeting people."

These are just a few stories of all the horrendous cases that happen because of an acid attack.