On the night of February 25, 2020, Vakil Ahmed, a Shiv Vihar resident, lost both his eyes in an acid attack allegedly carried out by armed assailants during the north-east Delhi riots.
Two years and four surgeries later, Mr. Ahmed, who owns a ration store, says the incident has turned his world upside down, restricting his movement within the four walls of his house and crippling his family financially.
“I can never forget that dreadful day… It ruined my life. Now all I do is apply eye drops six times a day and stay put in a corner... I always need assistance moving around,” Mr. Ahmed, 52, told The Hindu .
On the day the riots broke out in their neighbourhood, Ahmed locked himself, his wife and three children in their two-storey house. Around 8 p.m., a panic-stricken Mr. Ahmed and his 20-year-old daughter went to the terrace to look below and check if the violence had subsided. “There was no one around. We thought the worst was over,” Mr. Ahmed said.
However, out of nowhere, a splash of acid suddenly hit his face, causing major burn injuries to him and minor injuries on the face and neck of his daughter. “He [Ahmed] started bleeding profusely, which is when I realised that someone from below had thrown acid on his face… I felt helpless,” recalled Mumtaz Begum, 42, Ahmed’s wife.
Thereafter, the five-member family rushed out of their house and took refuge in a nearby mosque. “Next morning at 3 a.m., we were rescued by some NGO workers who admitted my husband and daughter to a local hospital,” Ms. Begum said. Meanwhile, the rioters vandalised and looted their house.
The ordeal was by no means over for Mr. Ahmed, as a month after being admitted to the local hospital, he was referred to Guru Nanak Eye Centre where his surgery was delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Finally, in October last year, Mr. Ahmed was operated upon in a hospital in Chennai with help from a Muslim welfare organisation. After three more surgeries, doctors managed to restore partial vision in his right eye. “I will undergo another surgery within a week and doctors will try to restore some vision in my left eye too,” Mr. Ahmed said.
Clubbed complaints
Ms. Begum said two weeks after the incident, she approached the police and got an FIR lodged. However, her complaint was clubbed with an FIR lodged by a person named Furkan, who claimed that his car had been vandalised during the riots.
“We are not literate enough to know these things but when I read the FIR copy, I saw that none of its contents matched the complaint that I had lodged, which was way more serious. I didn’t even know who Furkan was… I pleaded with the police to give me a separate FIR but they said there were no issues with the present one,” Ms. Begum said.
Around September last year, Mr. Ahmed moved a Delhi court seeking a separate case. But the matter is yet to see any progress. “We had moved an application seeking a separate probe into Ahmed’s case but it has been eight months and the police have not filed their response. The case has seen several adjournments,” Mr. Ahmed’s lawyer Salim Malik said.
Mr. Ahmed laments that despite several trips to the court, his case has not even been taken up. “Once there were some issues with my signature. Then they wanted to see my injuries. I hope my case sees the light of the day and justice is served,” Mr. Ahmed said. “We have been living here for over two decades and always had cordial relations with our neighbours… What made them not think twice before attacking us? How did they develop so much hate for us?” asked Ms. Begum.
Mr. Ahmed said despite the incident, he is not scared to leave his house.
“It’s the culprits who have hate in their mind, not me… They have managed to destroy my life but I remain undeterred.”
