People in the News - 1st prize
Shafiqul Alam Kiron
Map Photo Agency
Map Photo Agency
01 January, 1998
Sonia was 14 when a local boy she had spurned threw acid at her. She lost her sight, but was nursed back to health by her mother. Later, Sonia went to Spain for treatment, and can now see again. An average of eight to ten acid attacks against women are reported every month in Bangladesh. Perpetrators use concentrated sulfuric or nitric acid, easily available from factories. Reasons for attacks vary from family arguments to the failure to provide a dowry.