ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office said on Saturday Islamabad will continue to follow the development of the incident of an acid attack on a Pakistan-American student in the state of New York.
Nafiah Ikram, 21, was assaulted on March 17 by a man who doused her with acid on her own driveway, leaving her severely burned and nearly blind.
This week, the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a leading civil rights group, called for the attack to be investigated as a hate crime, New York Times reported.
In response to media queries on the attack, Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said the Consul General of Pakistan in New York is in contact with the family and has offered every possible help.
Chaudhri said Ikram is an American citizen of Pakistan origin and is residing along with her parents in Elmont, a diverse suburb some 15 miles east of Manhattan.
“The local police department has deputed a 12-member team to investigate the incident. We should wait for the completion of the investigations to ascertain the nature of the crime and the motive behind it,” he said.
Part of the encounter was captured on a surveillance video, and the police are offering a $10,000 reward for further information leading to the arrest of the attacker or anyone else involved.
But in response to questions about the investigation, the police did not provide further information beyond a weeks-old statement describing the attack and the suspect, who they said was wearing gloves and a black sweatshirt, The Times said.
Chaudhri further said the Pakistan embassy in Washington and the Consulate General in New York will continue to follow the developments and will provide every possible assistance to the family.
