Acid attacks on the rise in Uganda as assailants go unpunished

18 hours ago

KAMPALA (AFP) — Uganda's Mulago Hospitalhas witnessed a steady increase in the number of victimsof acid attacks in the past year.

Whereas before the burn cases were generally accidental, many now are deliberate.

Regina Nannono may have survived a brutal acid attack, but her skin did not. Her face and body were turned into pink, rotting flesh and the 25-year-old is only one of a growing number of acid victims in Uganda.

White gauze covers most of Nannono's upper body, chasing burns down her breasts, arms and stomach. Her face is raw and exposed, with one eye swollen shut.

Next to her sits her two-year-old daughter, massive bandages wrapped around the girl's head.

"I first thought the acid was hot water, but the pain went on for too long. All I could feel at the time was fear," Nannono said, sitting on a bed in the burn unit of Kampala's Mulago Hospital.

"The pain is no longer as bad as it was but it's still there."

One evening last April, the young mother -- who has three other children -- was at home with her children and brother-in-law. Their door was kicked in by a man who splashed her brother-in-law with acid. He, however, escaped with minor injuries.

The assailant then followed Nannono, who had run into the room of her youngest child, Aleni, to put her down. He poured lethal acid onto them both.

If the skin is not doused with water, the acid can go on killing skin cells for up to six weeks. Nannono, like most victims in Uganda, did not know this, and so a black, hardened layer of burnt skin formed, preventing immediate treatment.

She never even had a chance to see her attacker.

"I was very scared and distressed for my child. She was innocent in all of this," Nannono said, feeding Aleni juice from a plastic bottle.

She thinks her assailant was a spurned suitor, but she cannot prove it.

Mulago Hospital says that three to five patients typically have come into its burn unit each month since 2007, compared to one or two every quarter previously.

"We are now hearing of pre-planned attacks where victims are waylaid on their way home or even at home. Sometimes the assailants are known, but many times, for fear of retribution, the victims do not see their attackers," said Christina Namatovu, a doctor in Mulago's burn unit.

The most common motives for the disfiguring crime? "Love and property," she said.

Ex-spouses, romantic rivals and competitors for inheritance of property are often the culprits in attacks of which women mainly bear the brunt.

This was corroborated by Afan Kasingye, a police commissioner who heads a special committee set up in response to the acid crimes.

"We have noticed an increasing number of attacks with acid, notably with the use of concentrated hydrochloric acid," he said. "Unfortunately, people think they can sort out their domestic and social relationship problems by disfiguring their victims."

Sarah Nabwami, 32, had not even heard of acid attacks until she was assaulted in her own restaurant.

"I was in my restaurant doing the dishes when someone walked past me and called my name. When I turned, he threw acid into my face," Nabwami says, pulling her blue shawl tighter around her.

Her eyes are burned shut, and tears constantly trickle down her face.

"The people who do this should be punished. Something has to be changed."

Nabwami's assailant, who turned out to be acting on behalf of a jealous rival, was set free from jail for 400,000 Ugandan shillings (250 dollars, 160 euros). The fine was the extent of his punishment.

He is not alone. Many attackers escape capture due to lack of evidence or, if they are detained, leave with little punishment.

Containers of acid are readily available for sale at car garages in Uganda, where up to now no questions are asked.

Kasingye, however, said his committee is attempting to change this and push for controls on the import and sale of acid in Uganda as well as for changes in the law. So far, a registry has been opened to record who is buying acid -- and in what concentration -- from dealers at petrol stations and car garages.

But until punitive measures are strengthened, he said the bid to prevent acid attacks is an uphill battle.

As reports spread about acid attacks, Namatovu said "awareness has been a double-edged sword".

"More people are learning of acid as an available method," the doctor said, "but previously, people disfigured by acid would stay at home to treat themselves if they survived long enough. Now more people are coming to the clinic."

As for Regina Nannono, she says her sole focus now is easing her small daughter Aleni's transition to life as an acid survivor.

"I'd like my child to live a normal life. I don't know what kind of scarring there will be, but I hope she will be accepted."

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