The pictures of these injuries are not for the faint of heart and the faint of heart: An unknown person attacks a young woman in Long Island near New York with acid. After the devious attack, Nafiah Ikram’s (21) face is completely disfigured.
A surveillance camera shows the terrible attack: Ikram has just returned from work and is walking from the car to the house. It is 7.41 p.m. Suddenly a person comes running from behind. Then the attack happens. It’s lightning fast. The stranger runs away again.
The suspect is a man and 1.88 m tall
What happens then cannot be seen. The police believe, however, that the perpetrator may have fled in a red Nissan Altima. We are looking for a man who is around 1.88 meters tall and thin. He wore a black hoodie and gloves.
Activists believe that a hate crime against Muslims is behind the attack, as reported by the New York Daily News portal. The activists demand that this is the direction to be investigated.
Nafiah was in the hospital for 15 days
The acid attack happened on March 17th. After that, Nafiah had to stay in the hospital for 15 days. Her injuries are horrific: she has severe burns on her face, eyes, neck and hands.
Now the victim is out of the hospital again. US television stations conducted interviews with the woman, whose family is from Pakistan. “My whole life changed in five minutes,” she tells CBS New York. Nafiah has big problems with her eyesight: at the moment she can only see colors. “We only recognize what we have when it’s gone.”
And to “Fox News” the young woman said: “I can’t really taste anything. Because the acid got into my mouth and down my throat. It is very difficult to swallow something. “
US actress Padma Lakshmi knows family
Above all, she is plagued by the motive for the act: “I want to know what the reason is. What could I possibly have done to someone? ” Ahmed Mohamed of the Council for American-Islamic Relations also says that the family and the whole community must know why the crime happened. “The Hate Crime Task Force must support law enforcement agencies.” Because the search for the suspect has now been going on for over a month.
US actress Padma Lakshmi (50) also turned to the public with an Instagram video. The native Indian has known Nafiah Ikram’s family for years. “We want to find the people who did this terrible, heinous crime to her. We want to catch them. And we need your help! “
Almost half a million dollars in donations
You don’t even know whether Nafiah can ever see properly again, says the Hollywood star. “She wore contact lenses. The acid burned the contact lenses and melted them into their eyes. “
Meanwhile, donations for the acid victim are being collected on the “gofundme” platform. By Friday, over $ 420,000 had been raised. (nl)