Suman's Story:

Suman is a 20 year old student from Lahore in Pakistan. Subjected to an Acid Attack because she refused a marriage proposal after years of harassment. She needs vital support with fighting her legal case and making sure her perpetrator doesn't go free.

Unfortunately this is not random occurrence as she was already subjected to years of sexual harassment, and in January 2016 after refusing a marriage proposal a close relative led her to a secluded spot and threw acid in her face. This was not only one of the most physically painful of experiences, but psychologically damaging at such a young age.

After this life changing event, the trauma of disfigurement was not the only battle she had to fight. Suman had no family support to take legal action against the perpetrator. Some of Suman's own family members testified AGAINST her in court while others disallowed her from speaking to the press or using social media.

Suman gathered the courage to file the case herself and publish her story on social media. After more than an year of hearings, Pakistan's Anti-Terrorism Court sentenced the perpetrator to 28 years life imprisonment on the 8th July 2017. But he has challenged that decision in the Lahore High Court and Suman now needs to fight her case all over again.

Being a student and not having support from her family, Suman needs money to sustain herself and fight the case. And the hearings for the case has already started on 21st March.

I ask for your donation with a heavy heart as I want her to have a life and freedom this hero deserves.

Suman is a beautiful, strong and determined young woman and I really want her to feel that people around the world care for her, whilst condemning such criminal acts.

My Story:

I met Suman on my trip to Pakistan in March this year while we both were attending a conference on Cyber Security in Pakistan and Suman shared her story on cyber bullying. The Acid burns to her face did not stop any of her personality from shining through.

I imminently decided to help Suman fight her case as I firmly believe that supporting Suman meant directly stopping such atrocities in the future. I knew there's a 10k run coming up in Manchester and I'm looking to participate to help raise funds for Suman.

Obviously there's only one issue with this. I've never run 10k before, in fact I'm not exactly sure how distant 10k is. Also I only have 4 weeks to train… This should be fun!