74 Woman’s Era ● March (First) 2014

ACID ATTACKNot the face, whole life burns.BY Megha Jetley

Ididnʼt want to kill her, but to dosomething to distort her. Thisstatement is given by a man inthe court room who was chargedwith throwing acid on a girl. Thisis not just one story. Acid attackhas become the most committedcrime to take revenge in India.There is no official data availableon acid attacks but experts say

that women and girls are the victim in75-80 per cent of cases, out of which30 per cent are under 18. Thisextreme form of violence has analarming growth in India over the lastdecade.

Acid being inexpensive and easilyavailable becomes an ideal tool forthe assasins. Thousands of casesare recorded around the world everyyear in spite of the fact that manycases go unreported due to thevictimʼs fear of further social stigmaand enmity. This corrosive substanceʻacidʼ is capable of decaying metal inhigh concentration, causing the facialtissues to melt in the affected areaswhich lead to permanent scarring.

Effects of an acid attack: AnAcid attack victim suffers physical,psycol o gical and economic conse -quences. It becomes impossible for avictim to get a job to earn herlivelihood. They donʼt even getmarried because of the burns andscars on the face as well as a hugefinancial burden arises on thesufferer and her family for thesurgeries and treatments. All thesefactors sometimes lead to depressionand in many cases the victim finallycommits suicide thinking that thismight end the pain and adversity herfamily is going through.

BEAUTIFUL LIVESWHICH GOT SPOILT

Stop acid attacks: She wassleeping on her terrace with herfamily when suddenly her bodystarted burning and before she couldunderstand what happened to her,she lost consciousness. Chanchalwho was continuously trying to lodgea complaint in the police station

against a man Anil who used totrouble her every day, ended upbecoming a victim of acid attack. Anil,after continous rejection, finallydecided to clear the matter betweenChanchal and him with acid.Chanchalʼs younger sister Sonamwho was sleeping next to her also gothuge burns.

The same thing happened withHaseena from Bangalore. She wasjust 19 when she was attacked withacid by her boss. Just for the reasonshe left the job and started workingwith another company.

She was admitted with 64 per centof burns. She had undergone 13surgeries within eight months. Sheraised her voice against it whichcompe lled the government toincrease her bossʼ punishment to 14years.

Preeti Rathi, a 23-year-oldmedical student, became a victim ofan acid attack that ruptured even herinternal organs. After struggling forlife she later passed away.

Laxmi was 15 when she became

the victim of an acid attack in NewDelhiʼs Khan Market by her friendʼs32-year-old brother who proposed toher and after rejection threw acid onher face. Later the attacker wasarrested and was out on bail withina month and soon got married.

Not just in india statistics revealthat Bangladesh has the highestnumber of acid attacks reportedannually. Pakistan, Combodia andAfganistan are also on the list.

In Pakistan, a woman died afteran acid attack and left a mobilephone video message disclosing her

attackers. But the suspects – herhusband, father-in-law and mother-in-law – were released later.

Laws against acid attacks: Inalmost all the cases the perpetratorgets bail easily and moves aroundfreely in society. The one whoactually suffers is the victim. This isbecause of the weak laws we have inour country which do not award theoffender a strict penalty.

Section 320 (grievous hurt):

This law is not clearly defined. It doesnot account for injuries on importantparts 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 knowingthat the act can lead to worsesituation for the victm.

Example: If a person throws acidon someoneʼs face to burn his or herface, it comes under section 322 ofIPC

Section 325 (punishment for

voluntarily causing grievous hurt):

Punishment of either a term that maybe extended to seven years and shallalso be liable to fine.

Section 326 (voluntarily causing

hurt by dangerous weapon):

Throwing acid intentionally whichcauses injury to a person shall bepunishable with imprisonment ofeither 10 years or may be extendedto life and with fine up to • 10 lakhswhich shall be given to the person onwhom acid has been thrown.

These laws are meant to punishthe culprits but seem a bit weak.Strong laws with strict punishmentsshould be introduced. The sale of

acid should strictly be regulated andshould be banned.

A LOT TO LEARNFROM THEM

They who didnʼt give up: Thevictim Laxmi, mentioned above,finally got a reason to smile. Kanpur-based social activist Alok Dixit, 25 –who runs campaigns on social mediaagainst “acid attack, spot of shame” –fell for Laxmi and both decided tostay in a live-in relationship. Theyboth are now happy together andcurrently the couple is campaigningin the national capital against acidattacks.

Sonali Mukherjee, who wasattacked with acid in 2013 inJharkhand has demanded that anacid attack victim should benominated to Parliament. In 2012Sonali competed and won a goodamount of money in the AmitabhBachhan hosted Kaun BanegaCrorepati.

Archana from Faridabad, was 19when she was attacked with acid.Even after losing an eye in the attackshe didnʼt give up. She has nowstarted studying again. She demandsstricter laws and government jobs forthe victim of such brutal attacks.

There are many who fought forthemselves and changed the attitudeof society towards an acid attackvictim. Love them, respect them,thatʼs what they deserve and nothatred.

Conclusion: Any attack on awoman – whether it is rape, domesticviolence, honour killing, dowryviolence, acid throwing, humantrafficking or forced prostitution,sexual harassment or forced abortion– is an attack on her dignity. Thisshows the gender inequality in themind of society. Many debates havebeen held for years on this but whatmatters the most is the mindset ofthe people. Keeping in mind theincreasing cases of crime againstwomen, stricter laws need not onlybe enacted but also implemented.

76 Woman’s Era ● March (First) 2014

We

ACID-BURNEDWOMEN ARE NOT

A BURDEN ONSOCIETY. THEY CANPLAY A ROLE IN THEDEVELOPMENT OF

THE COUNTRY.REAL MEN DO NOT

VIOLATE OROPPRESS WOMEN,

THEY RESPECT THEM.