Man, woman arrested in Karachi for throwing acid on ex-spouses

Published August 22, 2021
An acid attack survivor shows burn scars on her hand. — Reuters/file
An acid attack survivor shows burn scars on her hand. — Reuters/file

A man was arrested in Karachi's Baldia Town on Sunday for allegedly attacking his "former" wife with acid, while in a separate case, a woman was detained in New Karachi for throwing acid on her former husband, police officials said.

Saeedabad police said Ramsha suffered burn injuries in an acid attack allegedly by her estranged husband in Baldia Town on Saturday.

She was admitted to the Burns Centre of the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital for treatment.

In her statement before the police, the victim said that as she left her home in Baldia Town on Saturday morning, her former husband — Syed Zeeshan — ambushed her, threw acid on her body and fled the scene.

Related: The casual sale of acid remains a constant threat to women

Baldia SP Faizan Ali told Dawn.com that the suspect was arrested on Sunday.

In their statements to the police, the woman maintained that they were separated, while the suspect claimed that he had not divorced her.

Instead, the suspect said that he was trying to reconcile with her.

The victim, according to the police, also used to make TikTok videos and had continued making them after her marriage, which reportedly frayed the couple's relationship.

In February this year, Ramsha developed serious differences with her husband and went back to stay with her parents.

SP Ali said the suspect had told police that he did not like that his wife was making videos on TikTok and that through such activities, she was allegedly "teasing" him; therefore, he threw acid on her.

The officer added that it appeared that Zeeshan was an "emotionally disturbed" person.

He said that the woman had suffered up to 35 per cent burns and her condition was out of danger.

In a separate but similar incident in New Karachi, police on Sunday claimed to have arrested a woman, Shabana Kaushar, from Liaquatabad area. She had allegedly attacked her former husband Mohammad Usman with acid at his home on August 19.

Usman was admitted to the Burns Centre of the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi where his condition was stated to be out of danger.

Area SHO Mohammed Nadeem said the couple had separated, but the suspect was insisting that her former husband marry her again after performing the practice of ‘halala’.

As the man appeared reluctant to the idea of a re-marriage, the woman threw acid on him and fled, the officer added.

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