Survivor stories
Nila, Bangladesh
Nila, aged 19, was attacked with acid by her husband only a matter of weeks after her marriage took place. The man in question has not been seen since. The outstanding aspect of acid burns is the long-lasting period of tissue destruction that continues until all the acid is either inactivated or neutralised, for instance by water. In Nila’s case, upon having acid thrown straight in her face she was left to suffer locked in the house for up to five hours before anyone responded to her cries of agony.
“I woke up around midnight and found my husband sitting on a chair with his eyes bloodshot out of anger. I asked him what had happened, but no response. He just walked up to me with a glassful of liquid and poured it down over my head”, Nila said reminiscing the dreadful night.
“The man to whom we handed over our beloved daughter with the hope that he would nature her dream, has shattered it instead”, Nila’s mother said with a blank look.
What Nila most desired was to carry on going to school, to pass her exams, to get an education. Her punishment for expressing this dream to her “beloved” husband: her human skin melting with litres of highly corrosive acid thrown over her head, face and neck; substances so terribly strong that they can clean even the rustiest of metals.
