Brave recovery of mutilated Bangladesh woman

By Anbarasan Ethirajan BBC News, Dhaka

Several months after the attack, Ms Akther can write legibly, appears confident and chats without any hesitation to a stream of visitors

When doctors in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, told Hawa Akther Jui that she would be able to write again with her mutilated right hand, her joy knew no bounds.

Ms Akther, 21, had lost all hopes of writing again after her fingers were cut off, allegedly by her husband because she started attending a college without his permission.

Doctors at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in Dhaka carried out a series of surgical operations on Ms Akther's hand, which involved setting up a splint between her thumb and wrist so that she can hold a pencil or a pen.

"The fact that I can write again has given me lots of hope and confidence. I have slowly started practising. I will continue my studies and achieve my aim of becoming a lawyer," Ms Akther said while sitting in her parents' one-bedroom house in the town of Narsingdi.

Ms Akther has just finished sitting her exams. She is not yet able to write independently. She dictates answers and her sister writes them. The college has given her extra 20 minutes for this.

Brutality
She said that her husband, Rafiqul Islam, attacked her soon after paying a surprise visit from his job in the United Arab Emirates in December.

Activists say that women from all classes are at risk of domestic violence

When she met him at a relative's house, she said, he blindfolded her, taped her mouth and chopped off her fingers with a meat cleaver. They could not be attached again as they were recovered too late from a dustbin.

Ms Akther said that her husband, who is not well educated, did not approve of her enrolling in a local college for higher studies.

Mr Islam is in custody.

Although domestic violence in Bangladesh is rife, the brutality of this particular incident shocked the nation and there was an outpouring of sympathy for Ms Akther.

When I met her soon after the attack, she appeared shocked and traumatised and broke down repeatedly while explaining what happened. At that time, she said, she had begun to practise writing with her left hand.

Months later, she appears confident and chats without any hesitation to a stream of visitors to her house.

Her wounds on the right hand have healed but there are no fingers beyond her knuckles and only a half thumb is remaining.

'Example to everyone'
The mutilation has definitely not dented her resolve to continue with her studies. She proves that by writing a few sentences using a pencil.

Ms Akther was lovingly nursed by her family immediately after the attack

"All those horrible things happened to me because I wanted to study. So, I will pursue my education. Doctors say I cannot write [in] my exam for three hours at a stretch. So, I need a writer for the exam. But I will continue practising with my right hand," she said.

Her determination to fulfil this objective has even tempted her to break rules at home.

"I had to register and pay exam fees three days after my fingers were cut off. So, my parents told me not to sit for them this year," she said.

"But I didn't want to miss it. So I took money from my mother's handbag without her knowledge and paid my fee," she said with a giggle.

Ms Akther also said she did not want to go back to her husband's family again and will seek a divorce "once everything is settled".

Her family is gradually coming to grips with the situation. They said despite promises of help from various quarters, they did not receive much financial assistance for Ms Akther's medical expenses.

"We want her to get educated so that she can be self-reliant. We will do whatever we can do to fulfil her dreams. I think my daughter will be an example to everyone," said Musammat Parveen, Ms Akther's mother.

"We need to make sure that no girl goes through this kind of suffering."

Women's rights activists in Bangladesh point out that the brutal attack on Ms Akther is part of a growing trend of violence against educated women.

In June last year, a university lecturer lost her eyesight in an attack allegedly carried out by her husband. She said it happened because he was jealous of her academic achievements.

He denied the allegations, but was unable to face trial because he died in prison before the case went to court.

The 2011 Human Rights Report by the Odhikar organisation points out that violence against women is on the rise in the country.

It said that more than 300 women may have been killed in dowry-related violence last year. In addition to this, dozens of women were also killed in rape and acid attacks.

"Domestic violence happens in all sections of the society and it is increasing. But very few women come forward to report these abuses because of the social stigma," Odhikar spokeswoman Taskin Fahmina said.

"Ms Akther's attempts to talk about this openly are a positive sign. The awareness is increasing, but the law should be implemented properly to punish those found guilty. That will send out a clear message to others."

The stoicism of women such as Ms Akther proves the old argument that education plays a vital role in creating more awareness of the scourge of domestic violence.

"I think women should get an education like men. Once they are educated, they don't have to rely on others," she asserts.

More acid attacks on women in Pakistan

Below is an article on the 'front page' of the BBC website.  I am glad the problem is getting some attention! 

Pakistani women's lives destroyed by acid attacks

Before acid

After Acid (all those marks on her face are permanent)

     Campaigners in Pakistan say cases of acid attacks are increasing in most areas, even though tougher penalties were introduced last year.  An Oscar-winning Pakistani documentary has put the crime under the spotlight, but it is estimated that more than 150 women have acid thrown on them every year - usually by husbands or in-laws - and many never get justice. The BBC's Orla Guerin reports.

Her name is Shama, meaning "candle", and she says her husband burnt her flesh as if it was a candlewick.

The young mother of four has just joined the ranks of Pakistani women doused in acid. She is scarred for life, with burns on 15% of her body. Her crime was her beauty.  "My husband and I often had arguments in the house," she said, in her hospital bed. "On that day before going to sleep he said 'you take too much pride in your beauty'. Then in the middle of the night he threw acid on me, and ran away." When her husband fled, he took her mobile phone with him, so she could not call for help.

     Shama shows me a picture taken at a children's party four months ago. It is a snapshot of an attractive young woman, with immaculate make-up, wearing an orange outfit flecked with gold.  Her hair is swept back to reveal dangling earrings. But acid has erased that confident, composed Shama. "I feel pain at what I was, and what I have become," she said, with tears coursing down her scorched cheeks. "All the colours have gone from my life. I feel like I'm a living corpse, even worse than a living corpse. I think I have no right to live."
Shama now lies in Ward 10a of the burns unit in Nishtar Hospital in Multan in Pakistan's Punjab province.
It is a monument to neglect. The plaster is peeling off the walls and there is a leaking pipe hanging from the ceiling. When patients need transfusions, their relatives are despatched to buy pints of blood.
But the doctors here are expert at treating women disfigured by acid - they see one or two new victims every week.  At morning rounds they gather at Shama's bed, asking if she is eating, and is keeping her burns covered with cream. They try to relieve her pain, but cannot ease her despair.  "I can't say anything about the future," she says, "maybe I won't be alive. I will try - for my kids - to get back to how I was. I have to work to build a future for them.  "If I can't I'll do what one or two other girls have done.  "They killed themselves."
     Fakhra Younis, a former dancing girl in Karachi, was one such woman, who ended her life to escape suffering.

 

It has been said of Fakhra that she died twice - once when she was drenched in acid 13 years ago, and again when she committed suicide in Italy last month.  Before taking her own life, she had endured almost 40 rounds of surgery.  Supporters say Fakhra had given up hope of getting justice. Her former husband, who comes from a powerful political family, was acquitted of the attack.  He continues to protest his innocence.
     Fakhra's death made the headlines here, but activists say many victims are shunned and silenced.
"Only about 10% of cases are getting to court," said Zohra Yusuf, the chair of Pakistan's Human Rights Commission. "Even in high-profile cases like Fakhra's there are poor prosecutions. Most of the time, victims can't get a case registered by police."  Offenders now face a tougher sentence - between 14 years and life imprisonment - under a law passed last year. But most attackers still get off scott free, according to Marvi Memon, the former MP who sponsored the new law.  "Even if he [the attacker] gets caught, he'll pay police off and he'll get away with it in most parts of Pakistan," she said.   "It's the easiest way to punish a woman. You can just throw acid and destroy her entire life in one second." 
     "It's very difficult to get the police to co-operate with the women," she said, "because they are under no pressure to do so."  The government admits it needs to do more for acid victims, and says implementing the new law is a major challenge.  "Passing the legislation was a first step," said Shahnaz Wazir Ali, a goverment adviser, "but how do cases get to trial speedily? That's the part we still need to work on. We need to sensitise the police, the lower courts and even the legal community."
     Back in Ward 10a, there's a new arrival. A woman named Maqsood is wheeled in, still wearing clothing eaten away by the acid.  Beneath her cream shawl the skin on her face is singed and mottled, and her right eye is sealed shut.  "My son-in-law came in the night, and threw acid on me," Maqsood said "after a small family dispute. He broke in through the roof. There was no power in our area, so we could not catch him."
But he was caught later, and he at least is now in custody.
     A plastic surgeon, Dr Bilal Saeed, rushes to assess the new patient. He has treated hundreds of women like Maqsood in recent years. He admits to being depressed by his work.  "On average we do multiple surgical and cosmetic procedures on these patients," he said. "But whatever we do, we are not getting their smile back."  Many commit suicide, according to Dr Saeed, in spite of his best efforts.  He says others are forced to return to the in-laws or husbands who attacked them because of social pressure or money problems.  A few beds away, Shama's children come to visit, crowding around her bed.  She reaches out a burnt arm to stroke their anxious faces, and asks for her youngest, Noor, to be placed on her chest.  "Do pray for Mummy," she tells them, "ask God to make me get better quickly."  Shama's husband remains at large. If he is ever caught she wants acid thrown on his face.  "I want the severest punishment for him," she said. "That would make anyone think a thousand times before committing such a crime."  As the children prepare to leave, Shama cannot hold back her tears. For their sake, she says she will try to keep going.
But like Fakhra Younis before her, she is not expecting justice.

To see more victims & stories of acid attacks in Pakistan click here. 

More information on the Pakistani Documentary about acid attacks:  http://savingfacefilm.com/

Acid attacks in Pakistan & Afghanistan

I tale of romance:  Boy meets girl, boy wants girl, girl refuses, boy gets over it.  NOPE!  He gets acid and throws it in her face!  Acid burns the skin, it can make you go blind, it can eat away your skin and bones, and scar you forever.  And you call yourself men?  GROW UP and act like men! 

Saira Liaqat, 26, poses for the camera as she holds a portrait of herself before being burned, at her home in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, July 9, 2008. When she was fifteen, Saira was married to a relative who would later attack her with acid after insistently demanding her to live with him, although the families had agreed she wouldn't join him until she finished school. Saira has undergone plastic surgery 9 times to try to recover from her scars.


Irum Saeed, 30, poses for a photograph at her office at the Urdu University of Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, July 24, 2008. Irum was burned on her face, back and shoulders twelve years ago when a boy whom she rejected for marriage threw acid on her in the middle of the street. She has undergone plastic surgery 25 times to try to recover from her scars.


Kanwal Kayum, 26, adjusts her veil as she poses for a photograph in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. Kanwal was burned with acid one year ago by a boy whom she rejected for marriage. She has never undergone plastic surgery.


Munira Asef, 23, poses for a photograph in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. Munira was burned with acid five years ago by a boy whom she rejected for marriage. She has undergone plastic surgery 7 times to try to recover from her scars.


Shahnaz Bibi, 35, poses for a photograph in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. Ten years ago Shahnaz was burned with acid by a relative due to a familial dispute. She has never undergone plastic surgery.


 This girl committed suicide.


This 17 year old and her younger sisters were attacked with acid in Afghanistan after rejecting a marriage proposal. This happened recently, sometime in 2011.

How many thousands of women does this happen to?  How many get medical treatment?  How many get justice? 

Come to think of it - these women should all be in JAIL!  Why?  They were physically attacked.  If one of these women were raped, she woud be thrown in jail.  Rape is a physical attack.  So is acid.  So, lets just throw them all in jail and forget about the whole thing!  (i am being completely sarcastic, I hope that is obvious.)  The men who do the raping and the men who throw the acid are the only ones who belong locked up in jail. 

Here is where I found most of my pictures.
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/alleyes/2009/11/terrorism-thats-personal.html