Even in a region where abuse and neglect are facts of life for many women, the acid attacks are alarming for their frequency. Incidents have been reported in all corners of the country, among practically every economic class and involving both Hindus and Muslims. The trend has even spilled over into India, where similar incidents have been reported in recent months. Last year, a young woman in New Delhi was attacked with acid by a former boyfriend just before her wedding, as punishment for marrying another man.

Some sociologists explain the violence as a reaction against the new-found independence of women in the subcontinent. Or perhaps the attacks reflect the breakdown of an older order, where women were rarely seen and therefore less likely to be objects of lust and violence. Although the acid victims usually identify their molesters, whose guilt can then be established with certainty, many women find court appearances traumatic. Defense lawyers invariably portray them as flirts who drove the assailants to an extreme form of revenge. But as Habiba points out, "These crimes can never be spontaneous acts of passion because the offender has to arrange for the acid and to carry it in a safe container." She says the attacks are a favored means of retaliation because they can totally break a woman's spirit. "The idea is to damage the face or the vagina, because that will hurt a woman--and her honor--most," she says.

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