The Bangladeshi government says it is restricting the sale and distribution of certain kinds of acid in order to reduce the number of acid attacks

Commerce Minister Faruk Khan said only those registered with a trade body should be able to buy and sell acid from a market. Dozens of women and children are injured in acid attacks every year in Bangladesh. The attacks leave victims terribly disfigured, scarred and disabled. The violence is mostly aimed at young women who reject marriage proposals or sexual advances, or when their families are unable pay their dowries. Sometimes, even children are targeted during family disputes. In 2002, Bangladesh brought in special laws, including a provision for the death sentence, to stop acid attacks. According to the Acid Survivors Foundation, 153 people - mostly women and children - were acid attack victims in 2010.