1999 Photo Contest, People in the News, 1st prize
Photographer

Shafiqul Alam Kiron

Map Photo Agency

01 January, 1998

Bina had acid thrown in her face and lost the sight in one eye while trying to protect her cousin Mukti from a young man whose advances Mukti had resisted. Bina prefers to go veiled because of the shocked reactions her appearance causes. An average of eight to ten acid attacks against women are reported every month in Bangladesh. Perpetrators use concentrated sulfuric or nitric acid, easily available from factories. Reasons for attacks vary from family arguments to the failure to provide a dowry.

About the photographer

Shafiqul Alam Kiron

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