An unknown man who threw acid at a student and her cousin as they celebrated her 21st birthday has left the pair with life-changing injuries. Manchester Met university student Resham Khan, and her cousin Jameel Muhktar, were driving through Beckton, east London, when they were stopped by a red traffic light.
They had the windows down and were playing music, feeling celebratory after not having seen each other since Miss Khan returned from an exchange year in Cyprus. As they waited for the lights to change a man threw a corrosive substance through the open window and into Miss Khan’s face – before going round to the driver’s side and throwing more acid at Mr Muhktar.
Miss Khan, a Business Management student, said she watched her clothes burn away as she struggled with the ‘excruciating’ pain.
She said she and her cousin, 37, tried to drive away from their attacker but crashed the car when the ‘pain took over’. They were forced to strip naked on the A13 as they begged passersby for water to help ease the agony.
A kind stranger drove the pair to hospital where Mr Muhktar was put into an induced coma while Miss Khan was given a skin graft.
The Metropolitan Police are investigating but no arrests have yet been made.
As they recover from their horrific ordeal, Miss Khan bravely shared her story on social media.
On her Twitter thread, which has been retweeted more than 6,900 times in just two days, Miss Khan said: ‘With plans to visit a spa and eat a nice meal in the city, having just got back from my exchange year in Cyprus, I got a train to London.
‘On my actual birthday, my cousin and I went for a drive in the morning, blasting music and chilling like cousins do, hyping it as I was 21. Long story short, whilst at the lights, a man threw acid through my window and then went round to his and threw more.
‘The pain was excruciating. I was struggling to close the window. My cousin struggled to get us away. I saw my clothes burn away in front of me. He put his foot down as we were coming onto a dual carriageway but the pain took over and we crashed.
‘We stripped off in the middle of the road, running around screaming and begging for water. We did this for 45 minutes. Someone drove my naked cousin and me to the local hospital, and we were seen to. We have since been transferred to a specialist unit.’
The student explained that she has had a skin graft but does not yet know what her face will look like. She also has burns across her body and her sight has been damaged.
Mr Muhktar was more badly burnt by the substance and so was put into an induced coma by doctors, which he has now woken up from.
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