ENTRY DESCRIPTION
Rajia lives with her family in the village of Mokarran in Satkhira district in Southern Bangladesh. Rajia wanted to be educated and to get job. That has always been her dream. Rajia got married in 2006, and her husband did not like that she wanted an education and a job. He wanted Rajia to stay and work at home.

Rajia managed to get a BA in Honors and a Master degree in Islamic History from the Government M.M. university college in Jessore. She wanted to become a college teacher and was preparing to sit for the Bangladesh Civil Service examination in late January 2018. She went to the capital of Dhaka to get coaching sessions and to prepare herself for the examination. When she was in Dhaka, her husband asked her to come back to the village, and then she could go for the examination.

Rajia came back to her home, and on the 25th January 4:00 am, when Rajia was sleeping, her husband attacked her with strong corrosive acid. He poured the acid in her eyes to make her blind.

Today, Rajia is blind on her right eye and can hardly see on her left eye. Her husband had planned the attack for some time and was targeted Rajia’s eyes with the acid so that she could no longer study and get a job.

Rajia's brother, Abu, filed a case with the police shortly after the attack. The case is still pending.

“I might be blind now. But I want to pursue my dream. I am determined to move on with my life. I also have my personal freedom now. I just hope that I will get justice and be able to go on with my life," Rajia says.

AUTHOR
Jan Møller Hansen (b. 1964) is a self-taught photographer, who works with visual story telling and social documentary. He has undertaken documentary photography work in Bangladesh, Nepal and South Sudan, where he lived and worked as a senior diplomat, and development/humanitarian aid specialist.

Jan Møller Hansen has won first and second prices for his documentary and photojournalistic work in the International Photographer Awards, La Grande Photography Awards, Fine Art Photography Awards, Monochrome Photography Awards, Neutral Density Photography Awards, Monovisions and other competitions. In 2015, he published the book ”Images of Nepal”, Jagadamba Press, and was recognised as the IPA People Photographer of the Year 2015. His work has been published in photography magazines, newspapers and other media in the UK, US, Spain, Denmark, Nepal, Bangladesh and other countries and has been exhibited in Nepal, India, Denmark and Sweden. His visual stories and documentary photography work focus on the lives and conditions of poor, marginalised and stigmatised people, living with conflict, displacement, insecurity, injustice, inequality and corruption. All his photography projects share a profound interest in human rights, dignity and the belief that everyone has the right to be recognised as a human being, regardless of social background, family relations, or living conditions.

Jan Møller Hansen has worked in Nepal (1991-1995, 2013-2016), Vietnam (2000-2004), Bangladesh (2007-2012) and South Sudan (2017-2018) and has been on numerous short-term missions for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, UNHCR, MS ActionAid, CARE Nepal and Danish Church Aid in Asia and Africa.

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