Tweet
Former Pakistani Dancer Commits Suicide After Acid Attack
[WSHH]wshh811pamJUj9Us9F8F[/WSHH]
A Pakistani former dancing girl left fighting for life by a 'horrific' acid attack has committed suicide a decade after being heavily facially disfigured. Fakhra Younus, 33, leapt to her death from a sixth floor building in Rome 12 years after the acid attack which she said left her looking 'not human'. At the time of her attack in May 2000, her ex- husband Bilal Khar was the man accused of entering her mother's house and pouring acid over Younus's face as she slept.
The mother-of-one moved to Italy after the incident to live in Rome and continue her treatment. But on March 17 she took her own life, after leaving a message saying she was committing suicide over the silence of law on the atrocities and the insensitivity of Pakistani rulers. Cleared: Younus's ex-husband Bilal Khar, the son of a wealthy Pakistani governor, was cleared in 2003 of charges relating to the attack Bilal Khar was arrested in 2002 and charged with attempted murder following the attack, only to be released on bail after five months. Khar, an ex-parliamentarian and son of a wealthy Pakistani governor, was eventually cleared of the attack, though many believe he could have used his family connections to escape conviction.
After Younus's tragic suicide emerged earlier this month, Khar continued to deny having any part in the attack - claiming in a television interview a different man with the same name had carried out the crime. Khar claimed his ex-wife killed herself because she didn't have enough money, not because of her horrific injuries. More than 8,500 acid attacks, forced marriages and other forms of violence against women were reported in Pakistan in 2011, according to The Aurat Foundation, a women's rights organization.
The Pakistani government introduced new laws last year criminalising acid attacks and stating that convicted attacks would serve at least 14 years in jail. Tehmina Durrani, the ex-wife of Bilal Khar's father, had become an advocate for Younus after the attack, and said the acid attack victim had pledged to bring her attacker to justice when she had recovered."
Source: AP