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Fozila was attacked because she refused a marriage proposal. Hasina was set upon after an argument over a bucket of water. Two women in the seething Bangladesh capital Dhaka whose lives changed in a blinding flash. They were attacked with acid.

Last year in Bangladesh there were 179 recorded cases of acid attacks. Hydrochloric and nitric acid are cheap and readily available - used by the gallon in the grimy jewellery workshops in the backstreets of the city. In the wrong hands though, it can be devastating. Eating quickly through skin and bone and doing irreparable damage. The victims are targeted usually over land disputes or spurned advances.

And while women are the main targets of a despicable crime, children – even babies – are also often in the line of fire, attacked for being born female or boys splashed with acid because of petty inter-family jealousy.

In a powerful and confronting report South Asia correspondent Sally Sara investigates acid attacks in Bangladesh and asks what’s being done to arrest this shameful phenomenon.

Sara discovers Bangladesh is trying to reform itself. Police have been told to crack down on the acid throwers, and the death penalty has been introduced. The message is that these attacks should no longer be considered just family business.

‘Our face is our identity. When it is changed our whole identity is changed. Women and girls are so cheap in this society, so men can destroy them’. MONIRA RAHMAN, ACID SURVIVORS FOUNDATION

In a society that shuns people with disabilities it would appear impossible for some of these women to survive let alone prosper but some do through remarkable strength and determination. They have landed good jobs and now can afford to live independently in the city, building a new life they may have only dreamed of in their villages.

They’re sustained by a new self belief, drawing courage and confidence from an inner beauty.

‘Beautiful is what’s inside, what’s there in your heart. My heart is beautiful. I can feel that.’ HASINA AKTER, ACID SURVIVOR

Warning: This story contains images which some viewers may find confronting.

Hasina on rickshaw. Bangladeshi faces

Music

00:00

Hasina on rickshaw

SARA: Through the lush countryside south of Dhaka, 23-year-old Hasina Akter is on a deeply personal journey. Five years ago, her life was shattered. She felt she had lost everything – but now she’s claiming a new sense of dignity.

00:22

Photo. Young Hasina

Music

00:41

Hasina from behind brushing hair

HASINA AKTER: “Beautiful is what’s inside – what’s there in your heart. My heart is beautiful. I can feel that.”

00:45

Photo. Hasina before acid attack

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00:53

Seething Dhaka street

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01:04

SARA: Bangladesh is one of the poorest and most crowded countries on earth.

01:15

Craftsmen at acid bath

In its backstreet workshops craftsmen use acid to help create an object of beauty, but in the wrong hands it has become a cheap and devastating weapon.

01:22

River shots. Men in boats

This nation’s shame is acid throwing. It’s a brutal crime, which can leave its victims with agonising injuries and a lifetime of rejection.

01:34

Music

01:47

SARA:  For many years Bangladesh and the world turned away,

01:50

Busy streets

but now this country has decided to face its demons. This is the story of the unrelenting courage and determination of the acid survivors and the earnest efforts of a poor nation to mend its ways.

01:53

Hasina’s family having lunch

The Akter family does better than most. There’s always food on the table and plenty of company, but something happened in this room five years ago that changed everything.

02:12

Reconstruction of acid attack.
SUPER: Reconstruction

Music

02:29

Photo. Hasina.

SARA:  Seventeen-year-old Hasina had been feuding with one of her father’s workers.

02:43

Reconstruction of acid attack.

The final argument was over nothing more than a bucket of water. In the middle of the night, he came back with a jar of acid after threatening her earlier in the day.

02:49

Photo. Hasina.

HASINA AKTER: “My mother stared at me in disbelief. I said, ‘Mum, I am on fire, I’m burning, give me water.’ My mother couldn’t understand. I was unable to bear the pain so I went outside and started writhing on the ground.”

03:09

Hasina from behind brushing hair. She turns to face camera

03:26

Hasina washing dishes

SARA: There were months of surgery, but even more painful was the rejection when she returned to the village. One of her classmates fainted, Hasina was shunned from weddings and pregnant women feared that her presence would make their babies deformed.

HASINA AKTER: “I thought my face would never be all right – that there was no point in living.

03:37

Hasina

My mother wept with me. I asked, ‘Why did my life turn out like this?’ I’ve never done any harm to anyone. Why did this happen to my life? I should have died.”

04:03

Hasina with baby

SARA: But now there are treasured moments of intimacy. Hasina has fought hard, even for the simple pleasure of holding her newborn nephew.

HASINA AKTER: “What can I give, except love? I don’t have money and homes like you.”

SISTER: “Love is enough. You don’t need to give anything more”.

SARA: It’s still a very awkward path to acceptance within the family. Her family knows that Hasina has endless challenges ahead of her.

HASINA’S FATHER: “She still has a long way to go,

04:15

Hasina’s father

but she has a good future. That remains my main concern. I will try to help her as much as I am able. I see her just as I did before. I don’t feel bad when I look at her.”

04:48

Dhaka streets

SARA: In this overcrowded country, families and family members fight for space. Bangladesh is only twice the size of Tasmania but is home to more than 160 million people. Most of the acid attacks in this country are over land and property disputes. The majority of victims are women and children.

05:05

Women at Acid Survivors Foundation

At the Acid Survivors Foundation in the suburbs of Dhaka, a new day reveals the latest victim.

05:38

Monira with attack victim Amina

MONIRA RAHMAN: “It is small, but still she has a lot of deep burns – so she will need surgery.”

05:46

Amina led to bed at clinic

SARA: Her name is Amina and she’s 20 years old – attacked 36 hours ago as part of a land dispute between her husband and brother-in-law. Amina has arrived in Dhaka after an agonising journey from her village.

[to Monira]: “How much of a state of shock are the women in when they first arrive like this?”

MONIRA RAHMAN: “Actually in most cases, in all cases they are frightened because for this girl, coming from a village,

05:54

Amina lies on bed

maybe it is her first visit to Dhaka, like going abroad.”

06:23

Amina’s family in waiting room

SARA: Amina’s family has arrived. Their faces show the shock and strain.

06:30

Husband standing by window

Outside her husband, Kalam, waits. In this case there’s an added twist. Staff here suspect he may have carried out the attack in an attempt to frame his brother.

[to Monira]: “Do you think the husband may have actually thrown the acid in this case?”

MONIRA RAHMAN: “It is possible.

06:37

Monira sits at Amina’s bedside

In many cases we have seen that, you know husband has done that, claiming others…. you know, that an enemy has done that.”

06:57

SARA: It’s another perplexing case for Monira Rahman, the head of the Acid Survivors Foundation. This place has its own

07:04

Acid Foundation interior

fully-fledged surgical hospital and also offers legal help and much needed counselling. In the past 10 years she’s seen the devastating effects of acid violence on hundreds of lives.

MONIRA RAHMAN:  “The disfigurement is permanent.

07:14

Monira. SUPER:
MONIRA RAHMAN, Acid Survivors Foundation

Whatever the treatment -- the plastic surgery we give to them, they cannot get back their former looks. So -- and it is so sudden, you know, that I have changed --our face is our identity and when it is changed, then our whole identity is changed, so they have to re-learn everything to live a life.”

07:31

Parents with burned children

SARA: It’s not only the women who are victimised. Acid throwers also target lives that have barely started. And a warning -- what you’re about to see is shocking.

07:55

Jonaki and mother

MONIRA RAHMAN: ‘This is Jonaki. She is six months old and this is her mother.”

SARA: No one here is exactly sure what happened,

08:05

Jonaki

but in a society that favours boys, girls are often targeted. It almost took Jonaki’s life. She was brought here from the filthy ward of a public hospital.

MONIRA RAHMAN: “All of the cockroaches were eating her scars and in seven days she was not treated and in a very bad condition, the hygienic condition was so bad she had infections.”

08:14

Art class for burned children

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08:37

SARA: Some of the youngest victims are yet to fully comprehend what has happened to them, let alone start the long journey ahead. 

08:4

This is the weekly art class for children at the Acid Survivors Foundation. Behind the bright colours and chatter are excruciating stories.

09:00

Music

09:10

SARA:  Twelve-year-old Ayesha was attacked with acid by her own father.

09:20

There’s six year old Seema – her dad lashed out simply because he wanted a baby boy. The father’s now out on bail and has reconciled with Seema’s mother, but still rejects his little girl.

09:29

Monira

MONIRA RAHMAN: “Women and girls are so cheap in this society, so they can destroy them. They can just throw them out. They can get them easily so, it doesn’t matter to them,

09:45

Children sitting on rug

and often these young children are just victims of the cruel mentality of the adult man.”

09:56

Burn victims in hospital

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10:03

SARA: Without the Foundation, there would be little help for acid survivors. Bangladesh’s public healthy system has only 50 burns beds for the whole country. The Foundation’s hospital has become home for a remarkable little boy named Durjoy. His aunt poured acid down his throat when he was only one month old. She was jealous because she didn’t have a son of her own.

10:14

Durjoy and mother

DURJOY’S MOTHER: “I never thought she would ever try to harm me. I thought she was a good person. I didn’t know she had simmering rage in her heart. How could I know that she would change into an animal and attack?”

SARA: Durjoy has endured

10:51

repeated surgery. The trauma has strengthened the already unbreakable bond between mother and child.

11:13

DURJOY’S MOTHER: “And all the time I thought, if only Allah had given his share of pain to me. I wish I could go through this storm rather than him.”

11:21

Dhaka streets

Music

11:29

Jewellery workshops

SARA: In the grimy jewellery workshops of old Dhaka, craftsmen sweat over their creations. This industry and so many others across the country rely on sulphuric and nitric acid in the production process. But for less than 20 cents you can buy enough acid to destroy someone’s face.

MONIRA RAHMAN:  “Acid is very powerful on the human body.

11:44

Monira. SUPER:
MONIRA RAHMAN,
Acid Survivors Foundation:

Immediately starts eating the skin and it goes underneath and even dissolves the soft bones, sometimes even affects the hard bones.”

12:22

Jewellery workshops

SARA: In this workshop, the acid is just kept in a plastic container and is easily accessible, but authorities are trying to change that. In 2002 Bangladesh introduced tough laws to regulate the sale and storage of acid.

12:31

Police Chief enters Crime Prevention Centre

It’s the job of Assistant Police Chief Mahub Alum and his officers to keep stock of acid in this country.

12:53

Alum. SUPER:
MAHUB ALUM,
Assistant Police Chief:

MAHUB ALUM:   “If someone sells he must have licence to sell it and he must have licence if someone wants to buy it.”

13:05

Alum with police officers

SARA: His challenge is also to clamp down on the attackers. The punishments for acid violence include life imprisonment and the death penalty. Despite the crackdown, only 11% of perpetrators are ever convicted. The Assistant Chief admits it’s not good enough, but he says the cases often get delayed in Bangladesh’s already congested legal system.

POLICE CHIEF MAHUB ALUM: “The conviction rate is a little low because of the judicial system.

13:12

Alum

In that case we don’t have anything to do from the police part. But even then we are trying to help the court in this regard.”

13:48

Community meeting

SARA: At this community meeting in the suburbs of Dhaka, police warn of the consequences of acid throwing. This community leader tells police there hasn’t been an acid attack in this neighbourhood for five years. The top brass are now taking the issue seriously, but officers on the beat can still be bribed by the perpetrators and the female victims often withdraw their complaints.

14:00

Monira

MONIRA RAHMAN: “If the husband is the attacker, how it is possible for the wife to take legal recourse against the husband, because the husband is their breadwinner. And what will happen to the children’s situation if the father is going to jail?”

14:34

Dramatisation of woman being hit with acid SUPER: Community Service video

14:49

SARA:  This part of the campaign to get Bangladeshis thinking about a problem that has been neglected for too long.

14:55

In this video broadcast on national television, viewers are shown how to give first aid to an acid victim. They’re told to douse the burns in running water for at least half an hour. There has been progress. The number of acid attacks in Bangladesh has more than halved in the past five years.

15:00

Call centre

15:25

You might expect those attacked and scarred to want to retreat from the outside world, but some survivors have confronted their changed lives head on, winning opportunities that were once unimaginable.

15:32

 Fozila working in call centre

Fozila Nessa was attacked with acid nine years ago after refusing a marriage proposal, but now she’s making her own way in the corporate world. Fozila has a job in a call centre.

15:45

FOZILA NESSA: “I’ve got a lot of things in my life. I am able to express my feelings everywhere. Also, I can share everywhere. I am leading my life independently. I am able to earn money and I am able to live my life.”

16:01

SARA: As well as working full time, Fozila has just finished a Bachelor of Arts and her dream is to get her PhD. It’s an enlightened workplace but even here, image is still important.

FOZILA NESSA: “Every one of my colleagues, they are so smart.

16:19

Fozila

They are always worried about their beauty. Most of the time when they’re gossiping, their main topic is beauty.”

16:39

SARA: In Bangladesh it’s extremely rare for a woman to live independently and rent her own apartment,

16:49

Fozila makes  tea

but after her attack, Fozila left traditional village life behind to chase her dreams in Dhaka.

FOZILA NESSA: “I am leading my life independently.

16:56

Fozila

No-one is asking me, no-one is disturbing me. I can do anything I want to now... eat anything…I can eat. If I want to learn… if I want to watch a movie, I can.”

SARA: Fozila has overcome challenge after challenge but she will always carry the scars of the attack.

17:06

Mirror on wall

She still finds it difficult to look at herself in the mirror.

17:22

Fozila

FOZILA NESSA: “Yes, it’s too difficult for me, because until now I can’t accept it really. But I believe my beauty is not in my face - my beauty is inside. But I am not yet able to see my whole face in my mirror.”

17:26

Hasina Akter at work at Foundation

SARA: Another survivor has moved on with her life and is trying to help other victims. Hasina Akter, the young woman we first met, is now working in the legal unit of the Acid Survivor’s Foundation. The lawyers here helped to convict Hasina’s perpetrator. She came face to face with him after he was arrested.

HASINA AKTER: “I told myself that I am free, flying like a bird in the sky.

17:44

Hasina

I am free -- my life starts. A brand new life, which I’m pretty happy about, whereas you’re a prisoner. What you did to me was not right. You will be given your punishment and I am happy.”

18:16

Hasina walks with Fozila to market

Music

18:31

SARA: Years after they were disfigured, even a simple trip to the market can be humiliating. Despite the strength of the survivors, sometimes it’s impossible to shut out the moments of hurt.

18:43

FOZILA NESSA: “Sometimes I feel it is my fate – or sometimes I feel, why has this happened in my life -- why? I could not find any answer. Sometime I really feel that. Why did this happen in my life?”

19:00

Monira

MONIRA RAHMAN: “I often ask them you know, how do you feel about that situation, to face these strange comments? And they say you know, some of them say that ‘There’s no night that my pillow is not wet’ so you can imagine, you know, what pain, what suffering is actually going on within them.”

19:15

Hasina walks with Fozila to market

SARA: Hasina and Fozila have paid a high prize for their independence. They grew up thinking their future may take them no further than their home village, but the irony is that the injuries and rejection which closed some doors, have opened others.

19:40

Hasina

HASINA AKTER: “I would have remained ignorant. I don’t believe that a domestic life can always mean happiness. A person is responsible for his own happiness.”

19:58

River activity

SARA: For may women in Bangladesh, happiness is a luxury. What’s important is daily survival, but Fozila Nessa dares to dream the future may hold freedom and a family of her own.

20:12

Fozila

FOZILA NESSA: “With my son and daughter, with my children, and also hopefully we will be able to change our society also hopefully after 10 years, we will see there is no acid violence in Bangladesh.”

20:28

Boys play football. Hasina watches. Zoom in to BCU Hasina’s eye

SARA: Hasina Akter keeps going by concentrating on what she has rather than what she’s lost. Despite her trauma, she’s grateful for the beauty of the eye that fate left behind.

HASINA AKTER: “People say that my eyes are so beautiful.

20:46

Hasina

It’s obvious from just seeing this one eye. This eye inspires me to live. It’s a very important thing for me. It gives me the light to go on.”

21:03

Burned women and children

Music

21:18

SARA: Last year in this desperately poor country, 179 lives were changed forever in a flash. Tough punishments and public awareness have only gone so far. This vile practice is unlikely to stop for as long as some in Bangladesh regard acid and women’s lives as cheap.

21:27

Credits

Reporter: Sally Sara 

Camera: Wayne McAllister

Research: Simi Chakrabarti

Editor: Garth Thomas

Producer:  Trevor Bormann

22:01