Looking at the beautiful face of twenty one year old Resham Khan, before and after acid attack, one may wonder at human depravity that has engulfed Britain in last decade. During my nursing career, I had never come across a single such incident where acid was used as weapon of hate, jealousy or revenge.
Occasionally we may come across such disfiguring, mainly due to car accidents and fire but never an act of deliberate cruelty. It seems these are imported crimes but now adopted and refined here as weapon of hate against some people for their ethnicity, colour of their skin and religious beliefs, as well as in family disputes, so often in divorce cases.
These are some of the most heinous crimes against humanity, especially against women. But gravity has yet to sink in corridor of power, with our mundane politicians, living in isolation in their castles with drawbridge raised!
As many letter writers in national newspapers suggested, such crimes should be treated as attempted murders and should carry minimum of fifteen years behind bars before being let out on parole, on par with sex crimes against children. We are too civilized to demand public flogging! I hope someone will start online fund so that both can get the best medical care money can buy.
Kumudini Valambia
By email
