Haunted by festering acid wounds

Roksana has won the fight she has been waging to save her life. But she has yet to secure the final victory over those who had killed her daughter and acid-burned her body.
With wounds and aches still haunting her, Roksana has recently filed a general diary (GD) with Kaira Police Station in Khulna. She needs security for her family amid constant threats and intimidation from the accused acquitted of the acid attack charges.
"We cannot sleep at night in fear of further attacks," said her husband Mostafa, who was not at home during the attack, over phone.
She used to lead a happy life with her poor farmer husband and two children in Jaigirmohol village in Amadi union until the heinous attack on May 26, 2005.
She along with her children -- four-year-old Badsha and eight-month Mukta -- suffered severe burns when the criminals allegedly at the diktat of Jaigirmohol UP chairman Shah Ebadat poured acid on them following a feud over shrimp farming.
She woke in acute pain and saw the assailants running away. Mukta died at Khulna Medical College Hospital the next day but Roksana and Badsha survived after a fight for six months.
Seven including Ebadat were implicated in the case. Ebadat and three others -- Zamil Shafi Gazi, Monsur Gazi and Afsar Uddin Khoka -- managed to get bail from higher court and the rest -- Arshar Ali, Yusuf and Raham Ali -- are still on the run.
The charges brought against them could not be proved in the court and the case was disposed of on May 21 thanks to poor investigation report. Soon the 'perpetrators' started intimidating the family.
"Now you have to leave the area or your body will disappear this time," Mostafa quoted one of accused as threatening after the court verdict.
Things turned more volatile after Mostafa and his wife held a press conference in the capital revealing their sufferings.
“We returned home only to face fresh threats," said Mostafa, who was so scared to talk to media fearing reprisal from the perpetrators.
Officer-in-Charge of Kaira Police Station Ali Azam Khan told The Daily Star they are 'alert' so that no untoward incident took place.
"I heard the victims are getting threats indirectly," he said, adding his superiors have asked him to ensure security of the family.
Executive Director of Acid Survivor Foundation Munira Rahman expressed her surprise over acquittal of all the 'attackers'.
"It's really unfortunate when a family does not get justice after paying the high cost," said Munira, adding they filed a petition with the High Court to review the judgement of the case.
Mostafa believes they did not get justice as the 'culprits' were influential. "But we have the right to live a peaceful life," he said, demanding the government intervention into their problem.
Despite tough laws against acid violence, Munira said, "we are not getting good results due to lack of application of the laws."
The government enacted the Acid Crime Prevention Act, 2002 and the Acid Control Act, 2002, awarding death penalty for acid attack and restricting import and sale of acid in open market.
Roksana is one of the hundreds of victims who were did not get justice as conviction could be made in only one-third of acid throwing cases.
Of the 525 acid throwing cases filed since January 2001, only 191 have seen conviction, while the rest have been disposed of following submission of final reports, official statistics say.
The home ministry at a recent meeting came down heavily on the police department, asking them to properly conduct investigation into such cases to ensure punishment of the culprits.
The culprits in two-third cases could not be tried as police have either failed to identify them or produced poor investigation reports against them.
The monitoring cell formed with the Police Headquarters in this regard has also miserably failed to yield positive results.
The government also does not monitor who uses acid and on what purpose, which is necessary to check misuse of the substance and identify the possible culprits.