Acid attack on female doctor in Pakistan highlights safety fears of women practitioners

A man threw acid at Mahnoor Nasir at her hospital in the southern city of Quetta on Saturday, causing burns to 7 per cent of her body, according to the provincial chief minister’s office.

Officers killed the suspected perpetrator, Humayun Shah, a lift operator at the medical facility, at a bus station as he tried to escape.

Nasir was receiving specialised treatment in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi and could require skin transplant abroad, said Shahid Rind, spokesman for the chief minister of Balochistan province.

The case has highlighted the risk of violence and social disparities women face in Pakistan, where fears of harassment and attack have exacerbated a fast-growing doctor shortage.

Surveys suggest around a third of women drop out of the profession after graduating despite outnumbering men in medical schools.