Maria Bibi – A Case Study
Maria Bibi is a nine-year-old girl belonging to District Muzaffargarh. She has 3 brothers and 5 sisters, of whom Maria is the youngest.
Maria, at the age of eight, was part of a horrific acid attack on April 3rd, 2010. Upon refusing a proposal from a man named Amjad for Maria’s elder sister, Maria’s family received a number of threats that if Maria’s sister was not wed to Amjad, she would not be left in a position to marry anyone at all. Unfortunately, at that time, Maria’s family was not able to foresee the extent to which Amjad was willing to go, to harm her family, and her sister in particular. On April 3rd, in the evening, when Maria and her family were outside on the veranda having dinner, Amjad and two of his friends, Zahid and Abid came to Maria’s house and threw acid on the family from over the wall. Maria and her mother happened to be sitting closest to the wall and as a result, were burnt the most. For the next hour, Maria’s family fervently tried to ease the pain by splashing cold water on the burnt areas. When this did not help, they traveled to Roheels Wali- a neighboring town- from where they were referred to Nishtar Hospital, Multan. Despite efforts of doctors at Nishtar, Maria’s mother’s burns turned out to be fatal and she passed away last month due to the degree of excessive burns.
This attack left Maria badly burnt, and without a mother. A former patient of Acid Survivors Foundation- also an acid attack victim- informed Maria’s family about the organization, and so Maria sought refuge in ASF, Islamabad. She was brought here by her elder sister Zainab, who is currently serving as her attendant.
The FIR was filed with the police two days after the attack (05/04/10). Amjad was arrested soon after the attack, while Zahid was arrested only recently. According to Zainab, the arrest of Zahid has caused much controversy in her village as he is the brother of a police officer and she believes that he may be released if the court is not involved soon. The third perpetrator, Abid, has not been arrested yet.
Maria is a brave girl who, despite of what has happened to her, has not forgotten how to laugh. She is an eager and fast learner and has shown great aptitude for language and numbers. Despite the fact that she is not a girl of many words, she shows, through her actions that she is keen to learn and engages in the work assigned to her whole-heartedly.
However, there are times when she is greatly perturbed by the absence of her mother. According to the Head Nurse at ASF, when Maria arrived at ASF, she had very frequent episodes of crying and sobbing and withdrawing from everyone around her completely. She would repeatedly ask for her mother, but she has now come to terms with the fact that her mother has passed away, she is told by her sister that “their mother is in a better place now and that Maria should pray for her”. Maria now finds solace in looking at the single picture that she has of her mother in which she is seen to be cradling little Maria in her arms.
ASF has provided Maria a home when all she encountered elsewhere were closed doors. Maria’s sister Zainab exclaims,
“We are very lucky to have found a place like ASF. We thank God everyday. The people here have been very good to us.”
Although Maria has not undergone any surgery yet, in the past month she has had three medical assessments at PIMS, and one medical evaluation at Al-Shifa eye Trust. The doctors claim that she will be ready for surgery in three months and that is what she is being prepared for. Meanwhile, she is being encouraged to perform certain physical exercises and the Head Nurse changes her bandages and replaces them with new ones twice a day, daily.
Maria has been provided with a comfortable environment at the Nursing Care and Rehabilitation Unit (NCRU) of ASF. The other victims currently staying at the NCRU, although much older to Maria in age, make a special effort to keep her busy and engage her in games and other activities that can conveniently be carried out within the premises.
ASF also encourages the youth of Pakistan to volunteer and lend their services to the organization, and these volunteers- conscientious citizens of Pakistan, enthusiastically try to help in the rehabilitation process as best they can. They try to teach what the patients are willing to learn and pass on whatever skills they can offer that might be beneficial to the patients.
ASF also actively involves its patients in fundraising events. Maria and her fellow patients are currently enthusiastically working on making handicrafts which will be displayed at an exhibition in an Art Gallery later this month.
Written by: Sarah Imran, Intern.
Source: Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF), Pakistan.
