Man pours acid on Eden girl, stabs her for refusing his marriage proposal
Maybe it was one of the biggest “mistakes” Ankhi made in her life: She refused to accept a proposal of marriage yesterday. And it was a costly “mistake”.
Refused, her proposer threw a bottle of acid on her face and then stabbed her indiscriminately with a knife before running away.
The incident happened inside a marriage registrar’s office in the capital’s Chankharpul where she was allegedly taken under duress.
The victim, Sharmin Akter Ankhi, is an honours final-year student at Eden College. Her alleged attacker is 28-year-old Monir Uddin, who is an “acquaintance”.
Neither Ankhi nor her family would comment on how and since when the two knew each other.
The girl is now being treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital with 12-13 percent burn injuries on her face and other parts of the body, doctors said.
She also sustained five stab wounds — two in the hands and three in back — but they are not life threatening, said DMCH resident doctor Haridas Saha.
At her DMCH bed, she told this correspondent that her “acquaintance” Monir called her over the phone around 11:00am and asked her to go to Chankharpul. On her reaching there at about 11:30am, Monir “forcibly” took her to a marriage registrar’s office and asked her to marry him.
An altercation ensued as she refused, and at one stage Monir brought out a bottle of acid from his bag and poured it on Ankhi’s face. Monir then stabbed her with a knife even as she screamed in pain.
Locals said marriage registrar Habibullah Khan was present when the incident happened. Also present at the scene was Masum, a friend of Monir.
The two went into hiding after the attack, police said.
Habibullah Khan was not available for comment but his boss Mahbobul Alam said Ankhi and Monir “looked normal” when they entered the office.
The attack came all of a sudden as the girl rejected the marriage proposal, he added, quoting Habibullah.
Alam, who is the authorised marriage registrar of the area, also claimed Habibullah sustained some burns as some acid splashed on him while trying to stop Monir.
Ankhi’s relatives said Monir lived at Mohammadpur in the capital and that they heard Monir used to supply medicine to pharmacies.
Owners and employees of several medicine shops at Chankharpul said they heard a girl screaming and then saw two youths running away. The marriage registrar followed them shouting: “Catch, catch.”
Within a few minutes, a girl came down the stairs from the first floor screaming with blood oozing out of her body, they added.
Locals called the police, who then took the girl to the hospital.
Ankhi’s brother, Mohiuddin Ahmed, filed a case against Monir and Masum in connection with the incident, Bangshal police said.
-With The Daily Star input
