Acid Attack Survivor Nafiah Ikram Speaks Out As Police Hunt For Her Attacker: ‘My Whole Life Changed… I Can Just See Colors, That’s It’
A 21-year-old medical student was attacked with acid in front of her Houde in New York in which she loses her eyesight. She and her mother were getting out of a car, state news agency A P P reported.
The incident should be investigated by human rights leaders as an anti-Muslim crime.
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According to the report, Nafia Ikram and her mother were just getting out of the car in front of their house on March 17 when an unidentified man approached them and fled by throwing acid on their faces while they sustained severe injuries and almost lost their eyesight.
Nafia Ikram is a medical student at the local university Hofstra and wants to become a doctor in the future and was rushed to the hospital by her mother after the attack, where her mother also works.
The student’s father, Sheikh Ikram, 50, said Nafia was targeted on her way home from work.
“It was not an accidental attack but a planned attack,” the New York Post quoted him as saying.
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Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder also announced a10,000 dollars cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect.
“The attack is a crime against humanity and I personally urge everyone to come forward if they have any information,” he said.
According to the Council for American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim rights group in New York, Nafiah was hospitalized for 15 days after the attack and suffered severe burns to her face, eyes, neck, and hands.
“My whole life changed in 5 minutes, we don’t know what we did,” Nafiah told WBCBS TV.
“I can only see the colors, but that’s all. I want to know what the reasons were and what I could do for someone,” he said.
Her father said Nafia had just started talking but was having difficulty eating and drinking because the acid had also burned her throat.
Sheikh Ikram said, “She is very nervous. My wife sleeps with him at night. She cannot see for herself. When water falls on her face, she is nervous. I have to go with them and both my arms are burnt because of which they can’t do anything, it is very painful.
Nafiah’s family is grateful for the support of friends and relatives and has so far raised up to 300,000 for medical expenses.
“We want to thank all the people who donated and we appeal to the people to pray for their eyes, money doesn’t matter but we need their health,” Sheikh Ikram said.
“We want to say think about what you did to our daughter, please don’t do that to anyone else,” he told the attacker.
There’s been an outpouring of support.
“We want to find the people that did this terrible, heinous crime,” celebrity chef Padma Lakshmi said in a video posted on Instagram.
Lakshmi and community leaders are urging the public to help out law enforcement.
“If you know something, say something. If you saw something, say something,” said Nassau County Legislator Carrie Solages.
