MUZAFFARGARH, Sept 26: The acid attack incidence has assumed alarming proportions in Muzaffargarh where 10 people, nine of them women, have been targeted in the first nine months of the current year. In most of the cases, the tormentors are none other than the dear ones who have committed the offence to exact revenge.

Figures obtained from the Acid Survivors Foundation of Islamabad, a non-government organisation which treats acid-attack victims, show that Muzaffargarh tops the list in the crime. Of the 39 cases of acid burns reported in south Punjab from January to September this year, ten belong to Muzaffargarh.

The latest victim of acid attack was Irshad Mai whose husband Ajmal taught her a lesson on suspicion of her loose morals. The victim, however, accused her spouse of being cruel to her as “he would often quarrel with her for no fault of hers”.

Azra Mai, the wife of Abdul Latif (of Jatoi), was disfigured when some of her relatives threw acid on her over a matrimonial dispute.

Shamim Mai, a daughter of Allah Wasaya from Bait Mir Hazaar, became the victim of acid attack by some unknown people. Her family alleged that their relatives had thrown acid on her to exact revenge over some family dispute.

A resident of Sher Sultan, Haleema Mai was burnt when Hazoor Bakhsh and his accomplices threw acid on her. She said Hazoor Bakhsh of the same area used to tease her and wanted to establish illicit relations with her but she refused to entertain his evil designs.

Sughran Mai, the wife of Ayub, has scars of burns. She alleged that some of her relatives wanted to kill her because of a domestic dispute.

In another incident, Alam Mai, the wife of Ghulam Fareed of Rohallanwali, suffered ordeal when she “refused some men of the same locality to satisfy their thirst for developing illicit relations”. She has been living without an eye after the acid attack on her.

In a simmering property dispute, Nazir threw acid on the face of Khalil who retaliated by throwing acid on four women of his tormentor’s family.

According to the foundation, the biggest acid attack took place in Shujaabad (Multan) in which 23 people suffered acid burns. Reports said some people abducted a girl and threw acid on 23 of her relatives who tried to rescue her.