Syrian refugee, his 11-month-old son attacked with acid outside Delhi’s UNHC office

A group of unidentified men in West Delhi’s Vikaspuri allegedly threw some corrosive substance on a Syrian refugee and his 11-month-old son. 

The father and son are currently receiving treatment at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital. 

An FIR was registered in the case on Monday after they received the treatment at the hospital. 

The incident took place on September 30 in Vikaspuri. Rafat, his wife Marisa, 26, and their 11-month-old son have been living on the road, outside the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 

Rafat contacted the UNHCR after he lost his job at the call centre. “However, the official denied us all help and we had no choice but to live on the road,” he said.

The locals, however, used to oppose their stay there. 

“But the locals had problems with us staying there and kept mistreating us,” he said. 

Rafat described the incident to The Times of India, saying that he saw from afar that the perpetrators were holding a can and he 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,” he said. 

The Syrian national said that he begged many autorickshaws to take him and his son to hospital. However, nobody came to help. 

Later, a man helped him and dropped him at the hospital on a motorcycle, according to the newspaper. 

Rafat’s wife Marisa 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?”

Rafat then explained that he came to India to study in 2015 and while studying in a Bengaluru college, he met Marisa and fell in love with her. “We fell in love and got married. However, our families did not approve of our relationship and cut us off,” he said. 

Watch | Israel’s hidden war: Iranian facility attacked in Syria

He continued that both of them dropped out of college and took odd jobs, hoping to start a new life for themselves. 

“Soon the war started in Syria and so, I could not think of taking my family back to Syria,” the Syrian national said, adding, “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 getting to know about the attack, Rafat was contacted by the Brave Souls Foundation, which works for acid attack survivors. The NGO also assisted Rafat and his 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, the founder of the NGO, added, “This is a highly shocking incident in which an 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.”

(With inputs from agencies)