Schoolgirl Rokeya Parveen Mou has been passing her agonising days in a hospital bed at Sherpur upazila in Bogra for 23 days as she sustained burn wound when a 22-year-old youth threw acid on her.

Selim Ahmed, brought up for long 14 years by Mou’s parents, poured acid on Mou on September 17 just

three days before Eid-uJ-Fitr as he was asked to leave the house in June after he became addicted to drug, said family members and police officials.

Mou s mother, Kohinur Begum, filed a case against Selim whom she had raised since 1995.

As he was under the influence of drug Kohinur turned Selim out of the house for the sake of other family members, family members said.

Mou is a student of class-X at Sima Bari SR Girls' High School at Sherpur of Bogra who has been staying in Dhaka for about three months with her brother and sister to receive better coaching. “I went to Bogra just four days before the Eid but I had to move from one hospital to another for treatment even on the Eid day,” Mou said.

“I saw Selim clearly as it was a moonlit night. It was about 10:00pm of September 17, the night of Shab-e-Qadr,” she added.

“I went to toilet which had no roof. 1 saw Selim on a jackfruit tree just above the toilet. He suddenly began to pour some liquid down on me. As I felt burning sensations on my shoulders, back and the other parts of my body I screamed in fear,” said Mou as she described the harrowing experience of that night.

On hearing her scream her brother Abdur Rahman Jewel dashed to the spot and caught Selim who somehow managed to flee the scene. "Acid-burnt Mou was rushed to the hospital in the morning," said Jewel.

Mou is now under treatment at the Burn and Plastic Surgery' Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) with burns on different parts of her body.

"Selim used to live with us but he had never disturbed me or even my elder sister. It is hard to believe that Selim should throw acid on me,” said Mou at the burn unit of DMCH. Her mother Kohinur said, “I think Selim poured acid on my daughter to avenge his turning out of the house."

No sooner had Mou's expatriate father, Abdur Rashid, come to know about the horrible incident than he returned from Saudi Arabia where he had been working for the past couple of years.

“We want justice. Why did he ruin my daughter’s life," Mou's father said in a choked voice.

Investigation Officer Subinspector of Sherpur Police Station Alhajuddin told The Daily Star yesterday, “Everything will be clear once Selim is arrested."