After being attacked with acid while in France, Boston College students are asking for thoughts and prayers not only for the fellow victims, but for their attacker.
Four Boston College students were attacked with acid while at a train station in Marseilles, France on Sunday, officials said. As of Monday, the students are doing well, according to BC, and plan to play in Europe for their studies.
The students involved in the attack are BC juniors Courtney Siverling, Charlotte Kaufman, Michelle Krug and Kelsey Kosten. Siverling, Kaufman and Krug are enrolled in BC’s Paris program and Kosten is a student at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark.
Krug took to Facebook following the attack first to let her friends and family know that the four were doing OK after a woman threw “a weak solution of hydrochloric acid at us from a water bottle.” The acid got in one of Krug’s eyes, she wrote. All four women were treated at a local hospital for burns and anticipate a quick recovery.
The attacker was a 41-year-old French woman who police have arrested and say suffers from a mental illness, according to BC. Police said the incident is not related to terrorism.
In her Facebook post, Krug asked for thoughts and prayers for her and her friends, as well as for people to “please consider thinking about/praying for our attacker so that they may receive the help she needs and deserves.”
“Mental illness is not a choice and should not be villainized,” Krug continued.
Siverling made a similar post on Facebook in which she thanked everyone for reaching out to check on her and said that she is praying that the attacker “be healed from her mental illness.” Siverling was not injured in the attack, she said.
BC spokesman Jack Dunn commended the students for their attitude after the incident.
“We are very proud of our students and the gracious manner in which they have handled themselves throughout this ordeal,” he said in a statement. “The BC community is here to provide whatever support and assistance they need.”
