2 years after acid attack, victim Nafiah Ikram pleads for arrest and spreads inspiration
ELMONT, N.Y. -- Two years after her face was disfigured in an acid attack, a Long Island student is pleading with the public to help police make an arrest.
She's also spreading an inspiring message about the scars she bears.
READ MORE: Reward for information in acid attack on Long Island college student raised to $50,000
It's a daily struggle for Nafiah Ikram. The 23-year-old cannot see out of one eye, cannot drive nor fully open her mouth to eat. She awaits even more corrective surgery and, she hopes, justice.
"Two years passes by and, unfortunately, that's why it feels like nothing has been done, because it's like my sight is still not there," Ikram said.
And her attacker and alleged accomplices are still free.
"They wanted to make me miserable and hate myself. Well, you lost. That's my message because I'm not letting them get a win," Ikram said. "Or they wanted to ruin my life? You're not going to have that."
On Wednesday, Ikram and her parents gathered just feet from their Elmont driveway, where on March 17, 2021, a 6-foot-2 man with a thin build threw acid in her face.
Despite a tireless investigation, police say progress is being made. A $50,000 reward has gone unclaimed.
"We are asking you, the public, to please help. Someone knows something," Nassau County Legislator Carrie Solages said.
"Feel what I'm feeling, if that's even possible as a human being, and think about if you were in my shoes if two years had gone by," Ikram said.
The family wore red -- the color of the suspected getaway car, a Nissan Altima, believed to be a 2013-2015 model. The two-year milestone without an arrest was so painful, the family left home for a week.
"I'm a rock, but like all the rocks in the world, it's gradually fading away and that's what's happening with us," mother Sherina Mohamed said.
Ikram, however, is spreading an inspiring message.
"I want to also help other people," she said.
FLASHBACK: Nafiah Ikram's personal message one year after acid attack outside family's home on Long Island
She said she is speaking to young women about focusing on inner beauty.
"It's not about what's on the outside. It's about what's on the inside. Look in the mirror at the end of the night and still see the beauty within me, that's all that matters," Ikram said.
Ikram said she hopes to resume her studies and one day become a doctor.
The Nassau County Police Department said it is continuing its investigation into the devastating attack, adding, "We thank Legislator Solages for continuing to get the message out there that we are pursuing the individual(s) responsible for this crime."
Since raising the reward to $50,000 last month, the department said it has had numerous calls to its CrimeStoppers tip line -- 1-800-244-TIPS. The FBI is requesting tips be called in to 1-800-CALL-FBI.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Ikram to help pay for her many surgeries.
