It’s 21 century & still women are not safe in our Kashmir yesterday another girl of 24 years became its victim below are the words of one of the victim The surgeries left me depressed and I wanted to commit suicide.”
These are the words of an acid attack survivor. We cannot even bear to look at the acid attack victims, there is a tattoo of opinions and words about their face, appearance but not a single word for the criminal. It is very easy to mock them, to ignore them, but no one can feel the pain, depression, and anxiety they carry in their hearts. When it comes to candle marches there are millions of people standing out there but when it comes to donating money for them, supporting them, there is not a single person. Even today around 1000 acid attacks take place and most of them go unreported. This crime can happen to anyone irrespective of their caste, religion, gender, and age, but it can be seen from the history of this crime that it mostly happens to women.
The acid attack has become a horrific attack. Men have got an alternative to destroying her face and her life. The intention behind this crime is very basic i.e. refusal to do marriage, sex and romance, rejection to love proposals, etc. So, hatred, jealousy and humiliation instigate the person. Acid is available in the market easily, as it is used in many daily chores, even after the sale of it is a ban. But coming to the laws made, they are very normal. The lack of stringent laws is giving the license to the criminals. Because, unlike other attacks, this acid attack just involves the disfigured face, loss of eyesight, and in very few cases the victims die due to the lack of proper treatment. Even the doctors and police do not behave properly to them. The acid attack survivors lead a very miserable life and no one can feel theira corrosive substance with below ph of below 7 which when thrown on someone could damage the skin tissue, burning, disfiguring, exposing, and sometimes dissolving of bones. The Indian Penal Code,1860, does not define ‘acid’. Strong acids are very harmful whereas the weak ones are not. Hydrochloric Acid and Sulphuric acid is easily available in the market as they are used in household chores, chemistry experiments in schools, etc. Throwing off this corrosive solution or substance is referred to as an ‘acid attack’.
This attack does not involve killing or murdering the victim but this attack has a lifetime physical, medical, psychological, and social challenges. Physical and medical consequences the medical effects are evident in the definition mentioned above. The acid attacks are mostly on the face of the victims and melt all the skin, eats up the underlying fat, and dissolves the bones even. Many times sensitive parts of the face like eyelids, lips, ears, and nose are destroyed. If this corrosive substance comes in contact with the eyes then the victim may go blind. The amount of injury depends on the concentration of the acid and the time within which it is treated or neutralized. Many times victims are tortured to drink acid or are Marepally Venkata v. State of Andhra Pradesh (inserted into their private parts which leads to extreme internal destruction). The survivors or the victims have to go through a lot of surgeries to get recovered which is very expensive and most of them cannot afford it. If these wounds are not treated they can even cause many infections or can even cost them a death. The compensation provided by the government is also not so sufficient for the victims.
Psychological Consequences
The biggest challenge for the victims is to accept their appearance and get back to their normal life. After the attack, they suffer from chronic pain, deformities, isolation, depression, and many a time they think of suiciding. The social stigma attached to them after the attack makes their life difficult. Many suffer from Post-Trauma Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is difficult for them to forget the incident and fight against it. Sometimes their family members also do not support them and it becomes hard for them to overcome all this. Societal Effects Due to their appearance, the society members often mock them and the victims also think that if they go out they will end up scaring people. Also, the disabilities caused to them make them dependent on others and no one helps them.
They are not able to get an education after that because they are discriminated against in a class by the students. They don’t even get the jobs easily due to their appearance. So, even if the victims accept themselves, society does not let them do so. After all this, the victims often end up blaming themselves for the incident.Till 2013, India did not have any specific laws which dealt with the acid attacks specifically. Even Section 326 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 dealt with ‘Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means’ which though included hurt by corrosive substance but did not have a specific provision to deal with acid attacks. The scope of Section 326 was also very limited and a narrow one and was not dealing with this crime appropriately because-
It did not cover the various kinds of injuries inflicted by acid attack and how grievous injury has been caused.
It did not cover the planning and administering of the attack.
It did not punish the intentional act which did not cause any injury to the victim.
But in 2013, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, was passed by the legislation, which inserted Section 326A and Section 326B under Indian Penal Code, to specifically deal with the cases of acid attacks in India. This amendment included the various injuries inflicted upon, the punishment for an attempt to attack, the pre-planning or administering of the act and the compensation to be awarded to the victims. This amendment also inserted provisions for the compensation to the victim i.e. Section 375B and Section 357C which not only provided compensation by State but also Free Medical Treatment. Also, the right of private defence under Section 100 of the Indian Penal Code was extended. (To Be Continued)

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