Acid attack dashes dreams of a bride-to-be

In an ideal world, Taiyeba Begum, 20, would have been getting married on Friday in a close-knit ceremony arranged in the yard of her village home under a colourful shamiana. Looking absolutely stunning, she would have blushed when guests took pictures of her.  

But it played out in a different way, in a devastating way, to say it properly.

Instead of joy at Taiyeba's house on Friday, there was only sorrow as she was in the burn unit of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) with a face ravaged by acid.

Taiyeba from Majhirkata village of Gorjonia Upazila in Ramu, Cox's Bazar came under acid attack on Monday night. Unidentified people threw acid on her face when she was returning home from her wedding shopping with her mother and younger sister. Her condition deteriorated swiftly and she was taken to the CMCH for treatment.

Admitted to the hospital, Taiyeba cannot stop her tears. Her entire family is just as devastated and they sit quietly with her not knowing how to comfort her.

Dr Anjuman Nigad, a CMCH burn unit doctor, says Taiyeba has over 7% burns and the entire right side of her face, including her right eye, have been damaged.

"I am afraid her right eye might have been critically injured in the attack. Our eye specialists are observing her and we will know the extent of the damage later," Nigad added.

Nurasa Begum, mother of the victim, was weeping when The Business Standard approached her in the hospital. 

She said the marriage of her daughter and a Nurul Amin from an adjacent village was finalised on Monday. Their akd (marriage registry) was supposed to be on Tuesday, and the wedding on Friday.

"But who will marry my daughter now, after the attack?" Nurasa Begum cried.

Nurul Amin, the groom-to-be visited the hospital on Wednesday and he could not stop crying. "I did not have any words for him," she continued.

Nurul Amin's mother was also there at the hospital on Friday.

"I wanted Taiyeba to be my daughter-in-law more than anything. We are regularly checking on her health now," she said.

Mozaffar Ahmed, the victim's father, said that a few days ago, his son quarrelled with their neighbour's son Nurul Absar. Ahmed thinks the brutal attack on his daughter could have been a result of that.

When The Business Standard finally approached Taiyeba, she demanded justice in a tearful voice.

"I want to see those who attacked me hanged so that they dare not repeat with another woman what they did to me," she said.

About the attack, Anwarul Hossain, Officer in Charge (OC) of Ramu Police Station, says that Taiyeba's father filed a case under the Acid Control Act on Tuesday night, accusing Nurul Absar and his brother Farid Alam, of  Majhirkata village.

Police arrested Nurul Absar, 32, on Tuesday night and the court sent him to jail the following day.

Police are still trying to find Farid Alam, the other accused who is currently in hiding, Hossain added.