In Bulgaria, two people were attacked by having acid thrown into their faces.
SOFIA, Bulgaria, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Two people were seriously injured in separate attacks involving acid this weekend in Sofia, Bulgaria, it was reported Sunday.
Police said the target of the first attack was a 38-year-old shop assistant who had acid thrown in her face by an unknown assailant. The Sofia news agency said Sunday the woman suffered serious burns to her face and other parts of her body.
Shortly after that Saturday attack, a 30-year-old man was found beaten and disfigured. He also had been burned with acid, forcing him to lose his right eye, and had his ears cut off. He underwent surgery for his injuries.
In the Victorian era, this was known as vitriolage. Sherlock Holmes fans are familiar with the crime, as Holmes mentions it at least once in passing, and the crime is, in fact, the subject of one the later stories. Similar are attacks with lye among rural blacks in the US in the early part of the 20th century; Blind Willie Johnson was the victim of one such attack, and the act was mentioned in blues songs of the period.
History don't repeat, but sometimes it rhymes, as Twain said.
UPDATE:My first Instapundit link! Thank you, Glenn Reynolds!
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Actually this crime has been fairly common in Islamic countries, where it is used to punish women for dressing immodestly.
Happens too to women in India when a dude is jilted or otherwise denied what he *thinks* is coming to him...
Unfortunately, common in Cambodia, also, where it is used by jilted lovers, moto thieves, and as revenge by those who have been insulted.
My cousin was doused with acid when he was a child; if I have the story correctly, he rang a neighbor's door, and that neighbor was insane, and threw acid in his face. My cousin was thereafter blind and severely disfigured. This was in the seventies.
Today, with his happy marriage, children, PhD, and thriving academic career, he seems to be doing just great, and clear-eyed smooth-faced me envies him. Argh.
Here in Chicago, I've seen a young woman at the YMCA with major facial scars, which I was told was from an acid attack.
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