LONDON, July 24 (UPI) -- Two young men have been formally charged with forcing another man to drink sulfuric acid in what British authorities say may have been a Muslim "honor attack."
The two, ages 19 and 25, were ordered held without bail during a brief appearance Thursday in Waltham Forest Magistrates Court, The Guardian reported. The men, whose names cannot be used for legal reasons, come from East London, where the attack occurred July 2.
The victim, 24, reportedly a Danish resident born in Asia, remained in critical but stable condition in Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford. His attackers stabbed him, beat him with bricks and then forced the acid down his throat, blinding him and destroying his tongue.
Police refused to confirm reports a Muslim woman had been given an "Osman warning" that she might also become a victim, The Guardian said.
The name comes from a boy wounded in 1988 by his former teacher, who killed Ahmet Osman's father. Nobody warned the boy or his family the teacher had become obsessed wtith him, and outraged at the killings inspired a new warning system.
