While waiting for justice which never came, a high-profile Pakistani acid attack victim Fakhra Younus committed suicide in Italy on March 17 ending her 12-year-long ordeal.
In her suicide note 33-year-oldFakhra has mentioned that she is taking the extreme step as no justice was available to her under Pakistani laws.
She had undergone over three dozens cosmetic surgeries in Italy during last ten years to reconstruct her completely damaged face and description.
Her husband Bilal Khar threw acid on her face and description at her mother\\\’s home in Karachi on May 14, 2000 in presence of her five-year-old son from another man.
The attack inflicted ghastly wounds, virtually melting Fakhra’s face, blinding her in one eye, sealing her lips, shriveling the skin on her face and torso and burning her hair.
Fakhra met her husband Bilal Khar, son of former governor of Pakistan\\\’s largest province Punjab Ghulam Mustafa Khar, in 1998 at the age of 18 when she was already mother of a three-year-old Nauman.
Younus was a teenage dancing girl working in the red light district of Karachi then.
They got marriage after a brief courtship of six months. It was the third marriage of Mustafa Khar.
The couple stayed together for three years but following severe physical and mental abuse she walked out of his home in 2000.
Bilal Khar is a cousin of present foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
Fakhra was rescued by Pakistani writer and activist Tehmina Durrani, also the step mother of Bilal. She kept her confined at her home for few months and then helped her shift to Italy for the reconstructive surgeries.
On Durrani\\\’s request, Italian government paid for her surgeries and helped her lead a normal life with her son.
Even when Fakhra had left for Italy, Durrani gathered the courage to speak against the heinous crime in media, due to which Bilal was arrested in Muzaffargarh on October 31, 2002.
However, using his political connections he succeeded in escaping the law\\\’s grip and was acquitted in December 2003.
Younus\\\’ story highlights the horrible mistreatment many women face in Pakistan\\\’s conservative, male-dominated culture and is a reminder that the country\\\’s rich and powerful often appear to operate with impunity.
Recalling Fakhra as a fighter , Durrani said she will reopen the case and will continue fighting for justice.
"We tried to mend her physical scars but was unable to heal her soul, added Durrani."