NEW DELHI: A group of locals in west Delhi's Vikaspuri allegedly threw some corrosive substance on a Syrian refugee and his 11-month-old son. The two are currently receiving treatment at Safdarjung Hospital. An FIR was registered in the case on Monday.
The incident occurred on Sept 30. Rafat, a Syrian according to his passport, his wife, Marisa, 26, a native of Thailand, and their son, have been living on the road outside the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Vikaspuri. The locals opposed their stay there.
Rafat, who suffered burn injuries on his neck and shoulder, told TOI that a few weeks ago, he lost his call centre job and approached UNHCR for help. "We are refugees, and the only place we can think of for assistance is UNHCR," he said. "However, the official denied us all help and we had no choice but to live on the road." Rafat put up a makeshift house on the road near the commission because he didn't have the money to be constantly travelling to UNHCR. "But the locals had problems with us staying there and kept mistreating us," he said.
On Sept 30, when Marisa went to use a public toilet nearby, a group assaulted Rafat and his son. He said. "I saw from afar that they were holding a can and I sensed danger. I tried to run away but couldn't get too far away before they threw something on me and my son. My skin started to burn and I sensed a chemical smell on me." Rafat claimed that he begged many autorickshaws to take him and his son to hospital, but received no help. A motorcycle rider eventually helped him and dropped him at the hospital.
Marisa, herself weeping and soothing her crying son, said, "When I reached the hospital, my son had burn injuries on his face, especially the eyes, neck and chest. I thought I would lose him. How can someone do this to a baby? Do they not have children?" Marisa now only wants her son to get proper treatment and be able to see again.
A few years ago, when Marisa met Rafat in Bengaluru for the first time, she hadn't imagined a life like this. Rafat said, "I came to India to study in 2015. I was in Presidency College in Bengaluru where I met the woman who became my wife, Marisa, who hails from Thailand. We fell in love and got married. However, our families did not approve of our relationship and cut us off."
He said that they had both dropped out of college after marrying and took odd jobs, hoping to start a new life for themselves. But things didn't go as planned. "Soon the war started in Syria and so, I could not think of taking my family back to Syria," the Syrian national said. "We moved to Delhi almost two years ago and started doing odd jobs. But recently, the financial burden became too much, and so we reached out to the commission."
After the assault, Rafat is being helped by Brave Souls Foundation, which works for acid attack survivors. The team of the NGO was also assisting the family with legal aid. Talking about the civic rights of the family, advocate Ali Zia Kabir of the NGO said, "The law should not, and does not, differentiate between a refugee and a citizen when they are victims of an acid attack. Both are equally entitled to protection, justice, treatment, and compensation."
Shaheen, founder of the NGO, added, "This is a highly shocking incident in which acidic substance was thrown on a man and an infant. It seems it is still so easy for people to procure acid in the capital. Availability of corrosive substances can so easily ruin the lives of people."
Rafat wants his assailants to be punished and has sought the help of the city authorities in this.
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