A wife is only able to cry after she was left blind and unable to eat or speak when her own husband threw acid over her face in a horrific attack. Atsede Nigussiem, 26, had been at home when she opened the door to estranged partner Haimanot Kahsai, 29.Without warning he allegedly poured a corrosive substance all over Atsede’s face leaving her in agony as her five-year-old son Hannibal Kahsai slept inside. Atsede ran screaming into the street for help from neighbours, while Haimanot fled.
Two months later Atsede is still in pain, her mouth has been melted together so she cannot talk, she is blind in her left eye and at severe risk of losing the sight in her right eye.She eats and drinks with a straw and spends all day “crying non stop” – one of the few things she can still do.Atsede is today receiving treatment from burns specialists in Bangkok, Thailand.Communicating in writing, she said:
“I don’t know why my husband did this. I was at my parents house late at night. I just opened the door and it happened. I’m heartbroken and in pain.”
Atsede, from in Tigrai, Ethiopia, said she had been married for five years to her husband before he moved to neighbouring Yemen for work February and lost contact.He then returned unexpectedly and launched the unprovoked acid attack after turning up unannounced at 11pm on July 15.Atsede was rushed to hospital where doctors gave her emergency care for wounds on her face, chest, hands and legs.But medics recommended travelling abroad for long-term care and treatment.
The devastated mother flew to Bangkok with her sister where burns specialists at the city’s Vejthani Hospital are now battling to save the little eyesight she has left and treat her skin.Regional manager Masha Zhigunova said Atsede “cries non stop” and cannot talk, eat or drink properly because her “mouth is melted together”