Tat Marina

Tat Marina
Personal details
Born	1983 Cambodia
Nationality	Cambodian

Tat Marina (born in 1983), ), Khmer: តាត ម៉ារីណា), is Cambodian-born and a survivor of brutal high profile acid throwing attack in 1999. Tat Marina came into public attention when she was doused with acid at the age of 16 years in a jealousy attack, reportedly arranged by a wife of a high-ranking Cambodian government official. The acid attack was done in a broad daylight. No arrest of the perpetrators was made in the assault of Marina.

Tat Marina is now married with two children and lives as a political refugee in America.^[1]

Early life

Marina sold fruit shakes when she was 14 years old, growing up in poverty, in order to earn enough to pay for her father's medical fees and feed the rest of her family. There, she was caught in a relationship with a married man who was known as a high-ranking government official. At the beginning, he lied to her that he was a Cambodian American doing business in Cambodia.^[2]

Marina was feeding her 3-year-old niece in a downtown market when suddenly a few men pulled her to the ground and beat her unconscious. The woman known as a wife of a Cambodian high-ranking official poured five litres of nitric acid.^[3] The attackers also scarred themselves with some acid during the attack. No arrest was or has been made in the assault.^[4] Marina's face was almost completely melted and destroyed. She lost both her ears, half her hearing and her sense of smell.

When giving the interview to the Phnom Penh Post, Marina said that she believed the woman was the wife of Svay Sitha, now head of the Council of Minister's Quick and Press Relation Unit. He reported his wife, Khoun Sophal, who was eventually charged with the crime but has so far evaded authorities. Marina collaborated with an American documentary maker, Skye Fitzgerald, on a video documentary about her, Finding Face.^[5]

After acid attack

She had to fly to Vietnam and to the United States for free medical surgery while assisted by her half-brother, Ta Sequndo, a Cambodian American medical assistant living in the United States. In 2010, her family members feared for their safety and later fled Cambodia. They are now residing in the Netherlands.^[6]

Cambodia is now drafting a law restricting the sale of acid and outlining punishment for perpetrators of the attacks.

References

1. & May Titthara, David Boy (13 October 2011). "Scars that never heal". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
2. Saet, Kimsoeurn (March 22, 2012). "តាត ម៉ារីណា ទម្លាយអាថ៌កំបាំងលោក ស្វាយ ស៊ីថា". Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved Feb 14, 2015.
3. Saet, Kimsoeurn (March 22, 2012). "តាត ម៉ារីណា ទម្លាយអាថ៌កំបាំងលោក ស្វាយ ស៊ីថា". Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved Feb 14, 2015.
4. Greenwood, Faine. "Acid Attacks: A Cambodian Curse, Too". The Faster Times. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
5. Tang, Sarada (December 14, 2014). "ជនរងគ្រោះពីការវាយប្រហារដោយទឹកអាស៊ីដ តាត ម៉ារីណា នៅតែចង់រកយុត្តិធម៌". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
6. Men, Kimseng (10 April 2010). "Family of 1999 Acid Attack Victim Settles Abroad". Voice of America. Retrieved 24 February 2013.