Pakistani actress Sidra Niazi has spoken out against the culture of victim blaming that followed the acid attack on Dr Mahnoor, a female doctor who was critically injured while on duty at a hospital in Quetta hospital on Saturday.
While the attack drew widespread concern, Niazi pointed out that many people on social media shifted attention away from the attacker and toward the victim, questioning her character, appearance, and personal choices.
She addressed the issue directly through her Instagram Story.
“Dr Mahnoor has left us shaken once again. Every time a woman is attacked, harassed or subjected to such horrific violence, I find myself questioning where we are failing as a society. How are we raising our children, especially our boys, that some grow up believing they have the right to punish, control or destroy a woman’s life?”
She said the public reaction to such incidents often compounds the harm done to victims.
“What disturbs me almost as much as the crime itself is the reaction that follows. The cruelty in some of the comments is beyond comprehension. Instead of outrage for the victim, people rush to interrogate her character, her choices, her clothes, her presence and her actions, as if they are searching for a reason to make the violence understandable,” she added.
Niazi described such attitudes as a reflection of a deeper moral failure.
“That mindset is not just insensitive, it is morally bankrupt. It reflects a terrifying absence of empathy and a willingness to excuse brutality as long as blame can be shifted onto a woman.”
She also questioned why people instinctively look for fault in the victim rather than the perpetrator.
“The fact that someone can look at a victim of such a horrific act and ask, ‘What did she do?’ instead of ‘How could anyone do this to her?’ is deeply disturbing.”
She closed her message by stressing that nothing can justify violence.
“No rejection, disagreement or personal grievance can ever justify violence. Until we stop normalizing victim-blaming and start confronting the attitudes that enable it, we will continue to fail the very people who need protection the most.”
Sidra Niazi is known for prominent roles in dramas including Chupke Chupke, Qayamat, Badzaat, and Samjhota. Her role in Chupke Chupke opposite Osman Khalid Butt earned her wide recognition from audiences.
More recent work includes Masoom on Hum TV and Sanwal Yaar Piya on Geo Entertainment, both in 2025. She is currently appearing in Sara Aapi, which began airing in February 2026, produced by 7th Sky Entertainment.
