Vicious acid attack a race hate crime, says Muslim family
The family of a Muslim woman who was burned with acid on her 21st birthday say they fear it was a race hate crime.
Resham Khan was celebrating her 21st birthday with her cousin Jameel Mukhtar, 37, when they had sulphuric acid thrown at them at a set of traffic lights in east London on June 21.
The acid burned their skin, clothes and parts of the car.
Relatives have said they fear the attack was motivated by Islamophobia in the wake of recent terror attacks, The Sun reports.
"We do see it as a possible terror attack," one relative said.
"Nobody in their right mind would just go and do something like that.
"It’s because they are Islamic."
The duo have been left with "life-threatening injuries" police said.
A GoFundMe page, created by Daniel Mann, a classmate of Ms Khan’s in Manchester, says the pair stripped off their clothes and ran around flagging down cars for water and a ride to hospital.
“After 45 minutes on the motorway waiting for emergency services, a passing driver gave them a lift to the local hospital,” Mr Mann wrote.
“They ran through the hospital naked, screaming.”
The pair hadn’t seen each other in two years and Ms Khan was planning on going to a spa and restaurant with her mum for her birthday.
But now their lives have been put on hold.
Ms Khan reportedly has damage to her left eye and burns across her arms, legs, face and shoulder.
Her cousin is reportedly in an induced coma with first-degree burns across his body and damage to his left eye.
Both have had skin grafts.
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“The pain was excruciating I was struggling to close the window,” Ms Khan has since tweeted.
“My cousin struggled to get us away. I saw my clothes burn away infront (sic) of me.”
Her tweets about the incident have been re-tweeted more than 8,000 times.
“I’m devastated.I keep wondering if my life will ever be the same," she said.
"I feel as though I’m blessed to have my limbs and senses. But I loved my face and body.”
Mr Mann said while his classmate is “usually a very confident woman” she now feels as though her identity has been taken from her.
Metro Police told The Telegraph arrests are yet to be made as they continue to make enquiries.
The GoFundMe page, which Mr Mann hopes will raise enough money for Ms Khan and her cousin’s surgery has raised more than $A8,000.
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