Woman Suffers Severe Facial Burns after Acid Attack by Man Outside Bar

THE TELEGRAPH: Woman suffered burns to face and neck after acid was thrown at her on a night out

A woman has suffered severe burns to her face, neck and arms after she had acid thrown over her during a night out.

Witnesses saw a man throw the acid outside the Turtle Bay bar and restaurant in Southampton.

Staff from the bar gave first aid before an ambulance arrived and described her injuries as "horrific".

A bar worker said: "The acid was in her whole face and eyes - she's probably going to be blinded.

"Neither her [sic] nor her attacker were actually guests here, we were just helping out and providing first aid treatment. She said it was two men.

"Her face looked like it was melting; it was quite clear there was a lot of damage. It happened just outside in the middle of the square."

The incident happened at 9pm on Friday. » | Nicola Harley | Saturday, September 19, 2015

Iran Condemned for 'Unspeakably Cruel' Blinding of Prisoner

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Iran punishment of man for acid attack by gouging out his eye condemned as "unspeakably cruel" by Amnesty

Iran has been condemned for "unspeakable cruelty" after a man was forcibly blinded in his left eye this week on the grounds of legal retribution for an acid attack he had carried out in 2009.

International rights group Amnesty International today condemned the "grotesque" punishment overseen by Iranian authorities on Tuesday under the principle of "qisas" – an eye for an eye – at a prison in Karaj, west of Tehran.

The man had been convicted of throwing acid in another man's face in 2009, leading to a 10-year prison sentence, an order to pay blood money to the victim and the act of retribution.

Medics gouged out his left eye after he was rendered unconscious in Rajai-Shahr prison, the Guardian reported.

"Punishing someone by deliberately blinding them is an unspeakably cruel and shocking act," said Raha Bahreini, Amnesty's Iran researcher, in a statement.

"This punishment exposes the utter barbarity of Iran's justice system and underlines the Iranian authorities' shocking disregard for basic humanity." » | Andrew Marszal, and agencies | Friday, March 06, 2015

Related »

Eye for an Eye: Iran Blinds Acid Attacker

In 2011, Ameneh Bahrami, an Iranian woman who was blinded
in an acid attack, pardoned her assailant.

THE GUARDIAN: Medics gouge out man’s eye in first known case where retribution ruling has been carried out, amid condemnation from human rights groups

In a literal application of the sharia law of an eye for an eye, an Iranian man convicted of blinding another man in an acid attack has been blinded in one eye, marking the first time Iran has carried out such a punishment.

The convicted acid attacker, who has not been identified, was rendered unconscious in Rajai-Shahr prison in the city of Karaj on Tuesday as medics gouged out his left eye, according to the state-owned Hamshahri newspaper.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, from Iran Human Rights (IHR), an independent NGO based in Norway, condemned the blinding as barbaric. “Medical staff who cooperate with the Iranian authorities in this act have broken the Hippocratic oath and cannot call themselves doctors,” he said.

The man had been found guilty of throwing acid in the face of his unnamed victim five years ago in the city of Qom, blinding and disfiguring him for life. He was subsequently sentenced to be blinded in both eyes, paying a fine and 10 years imprisonment.

Although the convict was sentenced to lose sight in both eyes on Tuesday, the victim – who, under Iranian law, has the final say in the punishment – decided at the last minute to postpone the blinding of his right eye for six months. The attacker will be able to plead with the plaintiff to spare him from being blinded fully. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Thursday, March 05, 2015

Zanzibar Acid Attack: Finger Pointed at Radical Islamic Group as Five Questioned over Assault on British Teenager

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Five men are being questioned by police over the acid attack on two British charity volunteers in Zanzibar as suspicion grew that a radical Islamic group may have inspired the assault

Religious leaders on the Indian Ocean island believe the two men who threw acid over teenagers Kirstie Trup and Katie Gee may be followers of Uamsho, which wants Zanzibar to become independent of mainland Tanzania and impose stricter Muslim rules.

In the past year there have been attacks on Muslim and Catholic leaders on the island, including an acid attack and a fatal shooting. All of the men were detained late on Thursday and in the early hours of Friday in Stone Town, the capital of Zanzibar.

The two women, both aged 18 and from north London, were expected back in the UK at lunchtime today after being evacuated from Tanzania on a specially-chartered private medical evacuation flight.

“There are five people we have, all men, who we are interrogating over this matter this morning,” said Mkadam Khamis, regional police commissioner in Zanzibar. » | Mike Pflanz, Stone Town, Zanzibar, Gordon Rayner and Victoria Ward | Friday, August 09, 2013