An acid survivor and his partner pray to the Buddha before a shrine in Cambodia. The acid attack carried on him was so severe that left him disfigured and he earns his life by begging, providing enough money for him and his partner, who passed away one year after this image was taken. Although a Buddhist interpretation of his fate could help him in the sense that the punishment reestablishes his Karmic equilibrium, the concept of deserving a punishment for past bad actions (Karma), can lead to a social stigmatization of the victim as it may seem consequently justified.
An acid survivor and his partner pray to the Buddha before a shrine in Cambodia.
The acid attack carried on him was so severe that it left him totally disfigured and he earns his life by begging, which provides him with enough money to maintain him and his partner, who passed away one year after this image was taken.
Some of the acid victim’s abilities (resilience) to properly adapt to stress and adversity come mainly from the capacity of relating positively to other human beings and being able as well of developing love relationships.
Seeking for a religious interpretation of their fate can signify a considerable help for some acid survivors, and in the case of Buddhist countries such a terrible event could be understood as the expiation of a bad Karma (the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences).
Although this explanation could be satisfying to some as it will serve to reestablish the karmic equilibrium, there is also a major drawback, which is the social stigmatization resulting from it, in which the aggression towards the victim would have been more or less justified, since it resulted as a consequence of bad past actions. A more radical interpretation of the Karma doctrine could result in a stronger social stigmatization and isolation, in which the victim could be judged as deserving such a punishment for actions which could have supposedly occurred in a past life.