User:Crtew/Zahid Al Amin

Zahid Al Amin is a Bangladeshi journalist who is known for reporting the case of a female acid throwing burn victim and becoming a victim himself by her attackers, who were her family members. His case simultaneously brought to light the problem of acid throwing and the safety of journalists in Bangladesh.

Career
Zahid Al Amin began his journalism career at The Daily Life while studying journalism at the University of Chittagong. At the time of his attack he was a journalist and special correspondent for The Daily Noya Diganta (Doinik Nayadiganta in Bengali), The Bangladesh Observer (an English-language newspaper which ceased operations in 2010), and an assistant editor at The Daily Our Time (Amader Shomoy in Bengali). After his case was widely distributed by the Bangladeshi news media, Al Amin said he had a difficult time getting work but found a position with Amader Shomoy. While working at the Weekly Blitz, he went to Germany to be trained in digital storytelling and created a personal narrative about his situation for Center for Digital Storytelling.

Hosne Ara
Hosne Ara was a victim of acid throwing by relatives who could not afford dowry and was at the Chittagong Medical College Hospital when Zahid Al Amin posed as her cousin to talk to her. On 23 July 2005, Al Amin alleges that interns at Chittagong Medical College Hospital attacked and tortured him after learning he was visiting Hosne Ara, who was an acid burn victim, as a journalist. Al Amin also alleges that the intern continued to harass him while he was pursuing a legal case against his alleged attacker. Al Amin's case was still in the courts in 2008, when the courts ordered a further investigation.

Acid related attacks have fallen since Bangladesh enacted stiffer penalties into law. Hosne Ara's case illustrated a larger trend in dowry-related motivated violence, which does not necessarily involve acid throwing. In 2002, there were 14 cases for dowry but by 2009, there were 285 dowry related attacks in Bangladesh.