Under the headline "Doctor Disguised as a Woman and Attacked Reem Al-Ali with Acid in England," Al-Arabiya reported that a doctor named Milad Raouf has plunged his life into darkness after his girlfriend, who he had been dating for a few months while studying medicine at Cardiff University in Wales, ended their relationship when she moved to Brighton, located 190 kilometers south of Cardiff and almost half that distance from London. After six weeks, he decided to seek revenge, which ultimately resulted in a 15-year prison sentence handed down yesterday.
Milad began his revenge journey last May by impersonating a woman to disguise his features. He dressed in women’s clothing and adorned his head with braided wigs, then proceeded to his ex-girlfriend's residence, where she lived with her colleagues in Brighton. Upon arrival and knocking on the door, Dr. Reem Al-Ali, an anesthesiologist, opened it, only to be confronted by the 25-year-old attacker, who surprised her in the manner she feared.
Initially, she thought he was a woman when he handed her what she believed was a message to read. However, as she read it, he sprayed her with sulphuric acid, causing her to instantly lose vision in her right eye and suffer severe burns to her face, neck, arms, and chest, according to information obtained by Al-Arabiya from British media. It was reported during the hearing that she ran to the bathroom when he fled, trying to wash the acid off with the help of her friends, while screaming in pain.
An ambulance arrived and took her to a hospital where she had previously worked, and her former colleagues were shocked by the extent of the disfigurement. They tested the acid that had been poured on her and determined it was at least 60% pure, causing significant harm to Dr. Reem, who spoke during the sentencing hearing, stating in a trembling voice that she still cannot close her eyes at night due to the damage to her eyelids. Despite undergoing five surgical procedures, her psychological and physical pain remains ongoing.
Asked about the attacker's and the victim's nationality, she stated in court that she cannot fathom why someone like her ex-boyfriend would commit such an act out of revenge. She described the psychological impact on her and her family as enormous, noting that she was training as a doctor and living independently before the incident, but now feels unable to attend work or live as she used to, stating, "He has taken years from my professional life and my youth." At that moment, her attacker bowed his head in the defendant's box and cried.
Regarding personal information about Milad Raouf, very little has been reported in the British media, and to date, there is no indication of his or his victim's nationality—only his name and age are mentioned. The arrest appeared to be difficult, as inferred from the sentencing hearing yesterday. Investigators scrutinized footage from public surveillance cameras to track his movements, especially the clip showing him running from the street where his victim lived, as seen in the video above.
Before and after the attack, he was seen wearing a distinctive jacket and a baseball cap, and he was seen disposing of a bag that investigators concluded contained women's clothing he had purchased. They also discovered footage of him running in black clothing and shopping at a store. When they later saw him in another clip retrieving what seemed to be a mobile phone from a trash bin, they identified his address in Brighton, leading to his arrest while he was on the street. A search of his home turned up the outfit he wore during the attack. It was learned during his interrogation that he had been suffering from depression since his mother passed away from cancer last March. However, the court disregarded his depression and did not show him leniency, sentencing him to the maximum term for such a crime.
