Pakistani Actress Acid Attack: 18-Year-Old Shunned Marriage Proposal
Lying within feet of the rest of her family, a Pakistani actress was doused in acid after shunning a marriage proposal.
Bushra Waiz, 18, was attacked on Saturday morning just moments after she allegedly shunned a marriage proposal from her producer. Her brother, Akhtar, has placed blame on Waiz's producer, Shaukat Khan.
"I couldn't see him myself, but I am sure he was Shaukat as my sister had refused to continue working in his dramas and that's why he resorted to this act of violence," Akhtar told Dawn.com.
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The attacker allegedly snuck into a Nowshera courtyard, where other members of the Waiz family slept, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The perpetrator then threw acid on Bushra, who suffered critical burns to the right side of her face, arms, and legs according to the Daily News.
Akhtar claimed, in an interview with Dawn, that he was lying so near to his sister that his feet were burned by drops of acid during the attack.
Bushra, who is also known as Shazia Aziz, is a Pashto-language singer, actress and theater artist. She had done acting work for Khan in the past, but was not compensated for her efforts, according to her mother. As a result, Bushra began to refuse doing work.
"My daughter used to work as an actress and was hired by a producer named Shaukat Khan to act in his stage dramas and plays," her mother told the website from Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar. "But he was not willing to pay her and this led to a number of verbal arguments [after] which she refused to continue her acting."
Police investigating the case believe that the shunned marriage proposal was the lead reason for the attack, according to The Daily.
