FAISALABAD: A man received severe burns on his face and neck after his older brother threw acid on him in a heated dispute over a cellphone charger in 541-GB Chakkian on Monday, police said.

According to CCPO Afzaal Ahmad, Ashraf Hussain, 27, threw acid on his younger brother Sharafat Hussain after the two got into an argument about who would use the home's only cellphone charger first.

Sharafat was taken to Allied Hospital Faisalabad, where doctors fear he may lose sight in one eye in addition to the severe burns on his face and neck.

Ahmad said no arrests have been made as Ashraf fled the scene after the attack, but expects a First Information Report to be lodged later at the Garh police station.

Between 150 and 400 cases of acid attacks are reported in Pakistan every year.

As many as 80 per cent of the victims are women, and almost 70 per cent are below 18. Such attacks are not aimed at killing the victim but to cause disfigurement, and often cause blindness, hearing loss and physical and mental pain.

Statistics show that a common trigger behind these attacks is domestic dispute. Besides domestic disputes, motives behind these cases include personal revenge, monetary and property disputes, rejection of marriage proposals, suspicions of illicit relations and marriage of choice.