Man attacks woman with acid in Lahore for refusing marriage
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A man threw acid on a woman in Lahore on Monday allegedly after she refused to marry him, police said.
The suspect is currently on the run and police are making efforts to apprehend him.
According to the first information report (FIR) of the incident, registered on the victim's complaint, the woman was attacked by the suspect in Johar Town. The FIR was registered against a man who had allegedly previously threatened her under Section 336-B (harm by use of corrosive substance) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The woman, who is a domestic worker, said she was walking to a house where she worked around 8am when she saw the suspect and an unidentified man waiting on a motorcycle near Jagawar Chowk.
Read: The casual sale of acid remains a constant threat to women
The suspect offered to drop the woman off at her employer's residence and when she refused to accompany him, the man threw acid kept in a steel jug on her face. As a result, the woman's face, neck and hands were severely burned, the FIR said.
Following the attack, the woman ran back to her house and her brother took her to Jinnah Hospital.
In her statement, the woman said the suspect had wanted to "forcefully marry" her and when she refused, he threatened to "not leave [her] capable of anything". In this connection, she said the man had thrown acid on her with the intention to kill her.
Following the incident, SSP (Operations) Ahsan Saifullah directed the SP Cantt Saddar to take steps to arrest the culprit and take legal action against him.
"Acid attacks are not acceptable at any cost," the police officer said, according to a statement.
Lahore police chief Ghulam Mahmood Dogar also took notice of the incident and sought a report from the SP Saddar. He directed officials to register a case immediately and take action against the culprit.
There were 9,340 victims of acid attacks in Pakistan between 1994 and 2018, according to a Dawn article.
Striking with an easily acquired weapon such as acid causes irreversible damage with an effortless throw, as opposed to other readily available weapons like knives, which require forceful attacks with precision.
