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| Kirstie Trup and Katie Gee |
The Zanzibar Police Department has urged the Jewish acid attack victims to return to the country in order to assist police with their investigation, according to police reports.
Kirstie Trup and Katie Gee, both 18-years-old, were burned when battery acid was thrown on them by two men on motorcycles in Zanzibar City last week.
Katie was the most seriously injured of the two, receiving burns on over 80 percent of her right arm and 50 percent of her torso, and is currently being treated at the Chelsea and Westminster hospitals after the two girls were taken home last week.
Kirstie’s burns were less severe because she bathed in the sea immediately after the attack, and she has been allowed home to Hampstead in London in order to recover. She is about to return to the hospital for skin grafts.
Police chiefs back in Zanzibar said that the teens would need to return to the island, after both said they would be able to identify their attackers if they see them.
Island Police Commissioner Mussa Ali Mussa said he wanted to get the girls back to the country in order to help identify suspects, or to assist in any future prosecution.
He said he would contact the British authorities to see if they could arrange the transfer.
Doug Morris, the partner of Katie's mom Nicky Gee said they have not yet talked about whether the teenager would return to the African island.
He said the two families wanted justice, but their main goal is the recovery of the girls, and Katie is not currently fit to travel.
Police have questioned eight people after the attack, with police saying more arrests are expected soon.
Extremist preacher Sheikh Ponda Issa is under armed guard in a hospital after being injured trying to evade the police.
He was shot in the shoulder while trying to flee Morgoro, about 200 kilometers from Dar es Salaam, but he later surrendered.
Ponda Issa had visited Zanzibar the weekend before the girls were attacked, and was encouraging supporters to demonstrate against the "colonization" of Christians.