Court awards 34 years jail term to acid attack convict in Lahore

LAHORE: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday awarded 34-years sentence to an accused who had thrown acid at a woman in September last year, in Lahore.

The accused had thrown acid on Nazia Bibi in the Factory Area of Lahore over a personal dispute in September 2019. Nazia Bibi, a working woman, was its way to work when the accused, intercepted and threw acid on her body.

The Factory Area police registered FIR of the attack and managed to arrest the suspect within a few hours of the incident. The anti-terrorism court in its verdict handed Hamayun Maseeh 34-years jail term along with Rs. 2.2 million fine.

Acid attacks are a serious issue and one of the worst forms of violence against women in Pakistani society. The efforts of rights activists were resulted in the passage of the Acid and Burn Crime Bill 2017, in the National Assembly of Pakistan. The law also promises rehabilitation for victims of acid attack.