Bushra Waiz, a young Pakistani actress who goes by the name Shazia Aziz, was in critical condition Monday after being attacked with acid while she slept at her family's home. According to CNN, which posted photos of the 18-year-old’s face following the incident, Waiz was attacked by a man early Saturday while she slept at her family home in Nowshera, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Waiz’s brother, Akhtar, told CNN the man burst into their home and threw acid into his sister’s face. She suffered burns on the right side of her face as well as her right leg, arm and eye.

Several reports from Pakistani media said it was no random man who did this, but a producer named Shaukat Khan who wanted Waiz to marry him. According to Pakistan Today, Shaukat barged into the home around 3 a.m. and proposed to Waiz. When she refused, he threw acid into her face and fled the home, leaving the empty acid container behind.

Akhtar Waiz told Dawn.com that the pair were in a dispute over marriage as well as wages; Shaukat had not paid her for time she spent working.

“I couldn’t see him myself, but I am sure he was Shaukat as my sister had refused to continue working in his dramas and that’s why he resorted to this act of violence,” he told Dawn.com.

Following her daughter's diagnosis at Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, Waiz’s mother said: “My daughter used to work as an actress and was hired by a producer named Shaukat Khan to act in his stage dramas and plays…but he was not willing to pay her and this led to a number of verbal arguments [after] which she refused to continue her acting.”

Pabbi police chief officer Ijaz Khan told Dawn.com that Waiz filed a police report and the investigation is ongoing.

“We have registered a case against Shaukat Khan as he was also forcing her to marry him,” confirmed an FIR police report.

Pakistan