1. 74 Woman’s Era ● March (First) 2014
ACID ATTACK
Not the face, whole life burns.
BY Megha Jetley
I
didnʼt want to kill her, but to do
something to distort her. This
statement is given by a man in
the court room who was charged
with throwing acid on a girl. This
is not just one story. Acid attack
has become the most committed
crime to take revenge in India.
There is no official data available
on acid attacks but experts say
that women and girls are the victim in
75-80 per cent of cases, out of which
30 per cent are under 18. This
extreme form of violence has an
alarming growth in India over the last
decade.
Acid being inexpensive and easily
available becomes an ideal tool for
the assasins. Thousands of cases
are recorded around the world every
year in spite of the fact that many
cases go unreported due to the
victimʼs fear of further social stigma
and enmity. This corrosive substance
ʻacidʼ is capable of decaying metal in
high concentration, causing the facial
tissues to melt in the affected areas
which lead to permanent scarring.
Effects of an acid attack: An
Acid attack victim suffers physical,
psycological and economic conse-
quences. It becomes impossible for a
victim to get a job to earn her
livelihood. They donʼt even get
married because of the burns and
scars on the face as well as a huge
financial burden arises on the
sufferer and her family for the
surgeries and treatments. All these
factors sometimes lead to depression
and in many cases the victim finally
commits suicide thinking that this
might end the pain and adversity her
family is going through.
BEAUTIFUL LIVES
WHICH GOT SPOILT
Stop acid attacks: She was
sleeping on her terrace with her
family when suddenly her body
started burning and before she could
understand what happened to her,
she lost consciousness. Chanchal
who was continuously trying to lodge
a complaint in the police station
against a man Anil who used to
trouble her every day, ended up
becoming a victim of acid attack. Anil,
after continous rejection, finally
decided to clear the matter between
Chanchal and him with acid.
Chanchalʼs younger sister Sonam
who was sleeping next to her also got
huge burns.
The same thing happened with
Haseena from Bangalore. She was
just 19 when she was attacked with
acid by her boss. Just for the reason
she left the job and started working
with another company.
She was admitted with 64 per cent
of burns. She had undergone 13
surgeries within eight months. She
raised her voice against it which
compelled the government to
increase her bossʼ punishment to 14
years.
Preeti Rathi, a 23-year-old
medical student, became a victim of
an acid attack that ruptured even her
internal organs. After struggling for
life she later passed away.
Laxmi was 15 when she became

2. the victim of an acid attack in New
Delhiʼs Khan Market by her friendʼs
32-year-old brother who proposed to
her and after rejection threw acid on
her face. Later the attacker was
arrested and was out on bail within
a month and soon got married.
Not just in india statistics reveal
that Bangladesh has the highest
number of acid attacks reported
annually. Pakistan, Combodia and
Afganistan are also on the list.
In Pakistan, a woman died after
an acid attack and left a mobile
phone video message disclosing her
attackers. But the suspects – her
husband, father-in-law and mother-
in-law – were released later.
Laws against acid attacks: In
almost all the cases the perpetrator
gets bail easily and moves around
freely in society. The one who
actually suffers is the victim. This is
because of the weak laws we have in
our country which do not award the
offender a strict penalty.
Section 320 (grievous hurt):
This law is not clearly defined. It does
not account for injuries on important
parts of a womanʼs body.
There are a few hurts mentioned
under grievous hurt
● Permanent failure of eyesight.
● Emasculation
● Permanent failure of any organ
or joint
● Permanent hearing failure
● Permanent disfiguration of head
or face
● Fracture of bones and tooth
Section 322 (voluntarily causing
grievous hurt): If a person volunta-
rily tries to hurt someone knowing
that the act can lead to worse
situation for the victm.
Example: If a person throws acid
on someoneʼs face to burn his or her
face, it comes under section 322 of
IPC
Section 325 (punishment for
voluntarily causing grievous hurt):
Punishment of either a term that may
be extended to seven years and shall
also be liable to fine.
Section 326 (voluntarily causing
hurt by dangerous weapon):
Throwing acid intentionally which
causes injury to a person shall be
punishable with imprisonment of
either 10 years or may be extended
to life and with fine up to • 10 lakhs
which shall be given to the person on
whom acid has been thrown.
These laws are meant to punish
the culprits but seem a bit weak.
Strong laws with strict punishments
should be introduced. The sale of
acid should strictly be regulated and
should be banned.
A LOT TO LEARN
FROM THEM
They who didnʼt give up: The
victim Laxmi, mentioned above,
finally got a reason to smile. Kanpur-
based social activist Alok Dixit, 25 –
who runs campaigns on social media
against “acid attack, spot of shame” –
fell for Laxmi and both decided to
stay in a live-in relationship. They
both are now happy together and
currently the couple is campaigning
in the national capital against acid
attacks.
Sonali Mukherjee, who was
attacked with acid in 2013 in
Jharkhand has demanded that an
acid attack victim should be
nominated to Parliament. In 2012
Sonali competed and won a good
amount of money in the Amitabh
Bachhan hosted Kaun Banega
Crorepati.
Archana from Faridabad, was 19
when she was attacked with acid.
Even after losing an eye in the attack
she didnʼt give up. She has now
started studying again. She demands
stricter laws and government jobs for
the victim of such brutal attacks.
There are many who fought for
themselves and changed the attitude
of society towards an acid attack
victim. Love them, respect them,
thatʼs what they deserve and not
hatred.
Conclusion: Any attack on a
woman – whether it is rape, domestic
violence, honour killing, dowry
violence, acid throwing, human
trafficking or forced prostitution,
sexual harassment or forced abortion
– is an attack on her dignity. This
shows the gender inequality in the
mind of society. Many debates have
been held for years on this but what
matters the most is the mindset of
the people. Keeping in mind the
increasing cases of crime against
women, stricter laws need not only
be enacted but also implemented.
76 Woman’s Era ● March (First) 2014
We
ACID-BURNED
WOMEN ARE NOT
A BURDEN ON
SOCIETY. THEY CAN
PLAY A ROLE IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF
THE COUNTRY.
REAL MEN DO NOT
VIOLATE OR
OPPRESS WOMEN,
THEY RESPECT
THEM.