Donations are desperately needed to finance the medical costs and rehabilitation of Samar (31) and Juwariya (25) Atique, whose young lives and hopes were brutally crushed in October 2009 by two men who threw a jug of acid on their faces as the women were returning home from a day's work in a rickshaw. Their crime - Juwariya had turned down a marriage proposal from one of the men.
They sustained severe burns and injuries to their faces, their eyes and their upper bodies. In acid attack cases, the victims should be hosed down gently with a continuous stream of water immediately to stop the acid continuing to burn into their flesh. But they did not get treatment for five hours after the incident because the woman doctor was threatened with a similar attack by the men and their families.
As a result, they may be blind for life. They will need to have reconstructive surgery on their noses and lips. Their eyelids were burnt away so they also suffer from itching and dryness in the eyes. Their first operation did not take place till five months after the event.
To date they have had three operations and will need many, many more. They live in Delhi but they have to travel to a hospital in Chennai, nearly one and a half thousand miles away, where they are getting subsidised treatment.
One of the sisters is suicidal, they are both suffering from depression but neither of them has had any counselling sessions. Post-operative care and rehabilitation will take years.
Read the full story on the Southall Black Sisters website.
