Acid Survivors Foundation

I can't remember the exact date that my family and I were attacked, but it was during Ramadan in 2001. It was around midnight. My husband and I were asleep together with our two children. My youngest child, Sonali, was just 18 days old.


We woke up screaming and shouting. Sonali was screaming too. We were all in excruciating pain and all severely burnt.

Hearing our screams, our neighbours came to the house but nobody knew how to help. We now know we should have bathed in water to wash the acid off our skin but at the time we thought water would increase the pain.

At one point Sonali stopped making any sound and we feared she was dead. I could see that her face was totally burnt. Fortunately the rest of her body was completely wrapped up as it was winter - so her body was protected.

We were taken to a hospital nearby, from where we were transferred straight away to Khulna hospital. We were only there a day. We were in such a critical state doctors feared they would not be able to save us so they took us to Dhaka, where we spent nine months in hospital. The Acid Survivors Foundation paid for all the costs.

I am scarred across the right side of my face. I have no right ear at all and my right eye has been destroyed too. I have lost both sight and hearing on the right side, and recently my ear has started bleeding. My husband was burned on both his shoulders and legs.

The attack was devastating, and today we lead a totally different life to the one we had before the attack. It is difficult for us to be in sunlight because our bodies itch and then we scratch and bleed. Our scars make people around us uncomfortable.

It was all about land. My husband stands to inherit the land on which we live when his father dies. But my husband's uncle believes the land should be his. Relations between my husband and his uncle were poor before the attack, but we had no idea this man was prepared to sneak up on us and try to murder his nephew.

My husband knows that the acid was intended for him alone and it's hard for him to accept that Sonali and I were caught up in this. Sometimes I catch him looking at Sonali, and I know it causes him unbelievable pain that we were victims too.

We are really scared for Sonali's future. In Bangladesh beauty is important, especially when it comes to marriage. Since Sonali is not pretty we will need to pay a large dowry to marry her off, and we have little money.

© Simon Rawles

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