XOFRAN EL-RADÎ

Baghdad -16-year-old Maryam Al Rikabi was sleeping in her home in Baghdad peacefully when a man intruded her bedroom and threw nitric acid all over her face and body six months ago. She was attacked because she had refused to marry the man. She survived the attack but her face and body are severely deformed. She joined a TV program with her parents and said what she had faced. The acid attack against her sparks anger on social media. Activists have started a fundraising campaign for the treatment of Maryam Al Rikabi. While people keep posting on social media, women's rights defenders demand the perpetrator be punished.

Investigation continues

A reliable source told NuJINHA that the investigation launched into the incident continues to find the criminal. Our source stated that the man, who is accused of carrying out the acid attack, confessed he had threatened to kill Maryam Al Rikabi but he refused the accusation.

She needs psychological and financial support

The Iraqi Women Journalists Association released a statement about the incident and condemned all forms of violence against women in Iraq. “Maryam needs both psychological and moral support. She also needs financial support so that she can undergo surgery. The offender must be punished in the most severe way in order to be a lesson to others,” the association stated in the statement.

Women will follow the case

Activist Yasmine Mohamed Said told us that all forms of violence against women, including sexual, physical, and psychological violence, have increased due to the lack of laws protecting women. Pointing out that women’s rights should be protected, Yasmine Mohamed Said said, “A woman was subjected to acid attack for refusing to marry a man. We, as women, will follow the case of Maryam Al Rikabi. We will keep raising our voices so that the perpetrator will not go unpunished.”

“She was a hardworking student”

Maryam Al Rikabi was a Fine Arts student before the attack. “Maryam Al Rikabi was a hardworking student having a beautiful voice. What happened to her also affects us. I am very saddened by what happened to her as her teacher. Her friends and teachers love her,” Cassem Al-Atabi told us.