If I blind him, will I get my eyes back?

Tehran, Iran. 2004. One late afternoon. A beautiful 27-year-old woman, Ameneh Behrami, was standing at the bus stop. An electronics engineering student with many dreams in her eyes. But she didn't know that her dreams would only last a few seconds. A familiar shadow was approaching her in the crowd. Majid Movahedi. Her university classmate. The one who had proposed to her, and Ameneh had rejected it in disgust. Majid had a red plastic bottle in his hand. Liquid death was gurgling inside—sulfuric acid. Before he knew it, Majid threw the entire bottle into Ameneh's face. In an instant, hell descended on the world. Ameneh felt as if someone had poured molten lava on her skin. The sky of Tehran trembled with her screams. Her skin was melting and falling off, her eyes were burning to ashes. Her vision was covered in smoke. That was the last time she saw the light of the world. After that, only darkness.

When he regained consciousness in the hospital bed, his life was in ruins. He was sent to Barcelona, ​​Spain, for advanced treatment. One surgery after another. Despite 19 surgeries, his sight could not be restored. His face became horrible. But Ameneh did not cry. He touched his disfigured face in the mirror and swore - I want justice. And that justice must be an eye for an eye.

A long legal battle began. Iran's Islamic penal code has a provision for 'Qisas' or Talion law. That is, 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'. Ameneh claimed in court that Majid had darkened his life, and he also wanted to bring darkness to Majid's life. He did not want financial compensation or prison; he wanted Majid's eyes to be blinded with acid.

The whole world was watching this case at that time. Human rights organizations were protesting, but the Iranian court ruled in favor of Ameneh's claim. The year was 2011. That moment came after seven long years. Tehran's Judicial Hospital. Doctors prepare in the operating theater. Majid Movahedi is brought in. He is made to kneel. His hands and feet are tied. He is trembling with fear, crying, begging for his life.

The acid dropper is handed to Ameneh. The doctor says, "Are you ready?" Ameneh steps forward. She has dreamed of this moment for seven years. The fire of revenge is burning in her chest. She stands in front of Majid. She holds the dropper over Majid's eyes. Just one more drop, and Majid's world will also go dark. There is a pinprick silence in the room. Everyone is waiting with bated breath.

One... two... three...

Suddenly, Ameneh lowers her hand. Her calm voice breaks the silence of the hospital, and she is heard saying, "I forgive you."

Everyone is stunned. Majid cannot believe it. He falls at Ameneh's feet. Ameneh said, "If I blind him, will I get my eyes back? Will my face be as beautiful as before? If I take revenge, I will find peace, but if I forgive, I will be free. I don't want him to suffer the pain of darkness like me."

That day, Ameneh proved that the strength of the mind is much stronger than the strength of the body. She freed Majid from blindness, but did not spare him from legal punishment. Majid was sentenced to 11 years in prison. And Ameneh? He returned to a new life. He wrote his autobiography, An Eye for an Eye. In it, he wrote, "Revenge is easy, but forgiveness is the hardest thing in the world. I chose the hard way."

Majid was released from prison in 2015. But Ameneh is an icon around the world today. He has started a new life in Spain. His face may have been burned with acid, but his spirit is still bright. He taught us that we have to fight against injustice, but at the end of the day, our greatest identity as human beings is our humanity.

Acid burned Ameneh's face, took away her sight, but it could not melt her spine. Even standing in the abyss of darkness, she lit the light of forgiveness. It was not a drop of acid that fell in that hospital in Iran that day, but tears of humanity that fell.

Salute, Ameneh Bahrami. You are a true warrior who never gives up.

Source & Disclaimer:

Sources: Wikipedia (Ameneh Bahrami), The Guardian, and BBC archive reports (2011). Ameneh's book 'Eye for an Eye' (German: Auge um Auge).

(Special note: This is a true story. In 2004, an acid attack occurred on Ameneh Behrami in Iran. In 2011, she was given the right to blind the attacker by a court ruling, but she forgave him at the last minute. According to the Qisas law in Iran, the victim has this right.)