Huma Shahid

From left, BBC reporter Shaimaa Khalil, salon owner Murtasa Misbah and acid attack victim Bushra Shafi, who got medical attention for her burns thanks to Misbah and now works at her salon.

‘For less than a dollar, you can [buy] a liter of acid and basically destroy someone’s life’

October 30, 2014Justice

Almost 10 years ago, a young Pakistani woman was held down by her mother-in-law while her husband and father-in-law threw acid on her. Some 150 operations later, Bushra Shafi is working as a beautician in a hair salon in Lahore, started by a hairdresser who was moved to help victims of acid attacks when one of them came into her salon and asked simply: “Can you make me beautiful again?”