<i>Another acid victim fighting for life</i>

Mukta Haldar at DMCH

Yet another housewife has fallen victim to acid violence and is now fighting for life at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).
Mukta Haldar, 25, of Shibalaya upazila of Manikganj, was forced by her husband Swapan Haldar and in-laws to swallow acid as her family failed to give him dowry.
"On November 14 night I was a little indisposed and sleeping in my room around 2:30am when my husband, his father Mahendra Haldar, mother Kajali Haldar, and brothers Paban and Ratan entered the room," said a tearful Mukta in her medicine ward bed at DMCH.
"My husband woke me up and forced to drink a cup of what he said was tea, but it was actually acid," she said.
Drinking the acid, Mukta began screaming due to the immense irritation. Hearing her cry, a few neighbours rushed in and took her to Manikganj Sadar Hospital. Mukta's husband and the in-laws had already fled the house.
Later, her parents rushed her to DMCH for better treatment.
Mukta's stomach has been burnt with acid and she cannot even drink liquid food, said her physician, adding that her condition is grave.
Mukta's brother Joydev Haldar told The Daily Star that Swapan Haldar of Bara Anulia, Shibalaya, married Mukta four years ago and took a dowry of Tk 40,000.
“We had to sell our cultivable land to arrange the marriage of our only sister," he said, adding that Swapan made a further demand of Tk 50,000 after six months. "Our father is a fish trader and did not have the ability to arrange another Tk 50,000," Joydev said.
Mukta's father Dhiren Haldar filed a case with Shibalaya Police Station on November 19.
Her parents complained that Swapan's family members, who have been absconding since the night of the incident, often come to the nearby market and threatening Mukta's father to withdraw the case. They said they informed the police about it but the police are rather "indifferent" to their problem.
Officer-in-Charge of Shibalaya PS Abdul Hamid told The Daily Star over telephone that no accused could be arrested yet but that they are trying to catch them.