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ASIA
FEBRUARY 1, 1999 VOL. 153 NO. 4


Cowardly Acts of Passion
Women in Bangladesh, long targets of abuse, now must cope with an especially brutal trend--disfiguring acid attacks
By MEENAKSHI GANGULY Dhaka

It is always hard to comprehend violence--the anger, jealousy or plain sadism that can drive people to commit acts of unimaginable horror. How, for instance, are we to understand the evil spite of the man who crept into Minara Khatun's bamboo hut in the middle of the night, poured concentrated sulfuric acid on her face and walked away as she woke screaming--all because she refused to sleep with him?

And how do we explain why scores of women in Bangladesh are attacked in this manner every year? There were nearly 200 acid attacks in 1998, according to the Dhaka-based Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association, which provides legal aid to the victims. Often, the perpetrators are spurned suitors who feel that, if they cannot have the woman they desire, they must mangle her so badly that she has no other takers. Others use acid--sold openly in hardware stores--against women as punishment in property feuds or because a bride did not bring enough dowry. "This is a relatively new form of violence that is spreading fast," says Salma Ali, who heads the lawyers' group. "These men are driven by revenge, but it almost seems as if throwing acid has become a fun thing for them."

There's nothing remotely funny in the grisly tales that fill the folders compiled by Naripokkho or "Women's Side," a support group that helps victims of acid attacks. Roksana Begum, 15, was propositioned by her cousin and, according to the Naripokkho report, "she did not respond, so he threw acid." Chan Miah, 21, emptied a container of acid on 13-year-old Sonia and her two younger brothers as they sat watching television at home, to punish her for complaining to her parents about his excessive attentions. Sonia lost her sight. Shoma, 14, did not want to marry Romel, so he and two friends accosted her on the street and flung acid on her. Then there's Taslima, whose husband Mustafa, not satisfied with the cash and gold jewelry she brought in dowry, demanded a goat. When his father-in-law said he could not afford anything else, Mustafa poured acid on his wife's genitals.

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