A mother has been left horrifically scarred and breathing through a tube after her husband hurled acid in her face in revenge for her getting a job. Zakira Ali Sheikh, from India, took a part-time post making soap after her husband Roobab refused to go to work as an autorickshaw driver, leaving them without money to feed their two children. The furious husband accused her of insulting his honour and, after locking the doors of the house so no-one could help, threw acid in Zakira’s face.
She said:
‘I was screaming in agony, but it was 10 minutes before even my brother could get inside to help me. The pain was excruciating.’
The attack has left Zakira in excruciating pain and blind in one eye, while the other has been closed since the incident at the start of November. The mother-of-two is currently in a hospital in Mumbai and a pipe has been inserted into her neck so she can breathe.
A fundraising page has been set up to pay for her treatment. The cost of the surgery she needs is 2.5million INR, or £29,090. Ria Sharma, of NGO Make Love Not Scars, the non-profit organisation behind the fundraising, said they had already raised more than £11,000. She said:
‘Zakira is in a critical condition and we need to raise the funds at the earliest. We hope people who sympathise with her will help.’