News

18-Year Old Pakistani Actress Burned in Acid Attack

by Julia Black

The eighteen-year-old actress Bushra, famous in Pakistan for her television, film, and theater performances, was the victim of a brutally violent acid attack late Saturday night.

According to her brother Pervez Khan, Bushra was asleep in her home in Nowshera when an unidentified man broke into their house and poured acid across her face and shoulder, leaving severe burns across 33 percent of her skin. Bushra is currently receiving intensive care in the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, where she remains in stable condition.

Bushra's brother has accused local TV producer Shaukat Khan of committing the heinous attack. He believes the attack was an act of revenge, after Bushra reportedly turned down Shaukat Khan's recent marriage proposal. Imran Khan, the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, asked government officials today to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrator to justice.

Acid attacks are shockingly common in the region, with thousands of recorded incidents every year in countries like Cambodia, Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The vast majority of acid attacks are perpetrated against women, often in order to punish them for crimes as simple as dishonoring their family, or refusing the sexual advances of their attackers.

To find out more about what activists are doing to stop acid attacks, check out the work of one of Glamour's 'Women of the Year,' Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.