BY- APARAJITA R. JHA
Only in India it is seen that on one hand women are worshiped in temples , but on the other hand they are abused and violated in their house holds. Since time immemorial women are taught to treat their husband and sons as superior which with lack of education lead to oppression of women . Violence on women has been existing since a really long time , the violence takes place in many form like abduction , beating but one of the most heinous violence that takes place on women is acid attack. In the year 2018 total 19 people were convicted in acid attack cases whereas 240 complaints of acid attacks were filed and only 150 of these cases were investigated . The reasons for such low conviction is mostly because of less staffed police system and tampering of evidence at local level which puts a huge amount of burden on the judicial system.
LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL STAND ON ACID ATTACK
It was only after the Criminal Law Amendment Act , 2013 , that acid attack was introduced in IPC before that it was dealt under either Section 302 when the victim who was attacked died due to it or under Section 307 for attempt to murder. There was absence of a specific provision for acid attack . Judiciary was continuously challenged with different types of case and a lot of discretion was given to the judges for deciding the case . In the case of Morepally Venkatasree Nargesh vs State of Andhra Pradesh the husband was convicted under section 302 and 307 for pouring acid inside his wife’ vagina out of spite which lead to her death . Similarly the judges in the case of Jahalli Police Station vs Joseph Rodrigues , convicted the accused under Section 307. The victim was attacked because she refused to take the new offer given by the boss and joined a new job , she was blinded because of the attack . The court also ordered the accused to pay a compensation of a total amount of Rs. 5 lakh to the victim’s parents but only if that was enough to get back her eyes. The cases kept on increasing and it became everyday news where either husband resorted to acid attack for matters like refusal of divorce by wife or attacks took place because of personal enmity In Ramesh Dey vs State of West Bengal , the accused attacked the victim twice as he didn’t succeed the first time. The attack was motivated by revenge . The victim faced several burnt on her body and eventually she died . The culprit was punished under various sections of IPC and was given rigorous imprisonment for 1 year and fine.
It was in 2013 that acid attack was declared as a specific offence under section 326A and 326B .While hearing the PIL in the acid attack in the leading case of Laxmi , in 2006 Supreme Court gave directions on the regularizing the sale of acid . The court directed that acid will only be sold when the person buying it provides with valid identity card having the photo and address proof. Section 326A of IPC lays down punishment relating to acid attack which can be minimum of 10 ears and can extend to life time and Section 326B for throwing acid which involves a punishment of minimum of 5 years of imprisonment and can extend to 7 years with fine. Another PIL was filed in the case of Parivartan Kendra vs Unio of India for the requirement of free medical care for acid attack victims and proper compensation under the Survivor Compensation Scheme , the Supreme Court after seeing the facts and figures ordered the States and Union Territories to discuss the matter seriously with the private hospitals and ensure that full medical support with proper medication , food should be given to the victims of acid attack , the court also rejected the idea of a different compensation board and clarified that the state government or the concerned UT would pay the necessary compensation. In 2013 a girl was attacked because she choose her career over a marriage proposal and the Supreme Court after taking into consideration the facts and situation of the case sentenced the accused to death.
It is seen that after laxmi’s case the courts are more inclined towards rehabilitation of the victims of acid attack and strict punishments are given to the accused for creating a detrimental effect.
THE CONSEQUENCES FACED BY THE VICTIMS
Acid attack leaves a perpetual mark on the victim . Physically two level of a person’s skin gets burnt from the acid i.e. from the skin to the muscle below it and with higher degree burns it can even melt down the bones. Mostly it has been seen that the victims lose their eyes and nose and they are later made by surgery for appearance, Mostly the victims lose their face and they are treated in an unwanted way by the society so the victims are not only going through the trauma of the incident and anxiety about their incident but also the cruel behaviour of the society affects them psychologically.The family of the victim also goes through a helpless situation where they cannot make the situation better and just see their loved ones going through a difficult situation. It has been often seen that the victims of acid attacks are called by weird terms as Aliens , Bhooth(Ghost) in public and that with everything else affects their self respect , dignity , empowerment and most importantly mental health. The unmarried victims mostly never gets married because of the scars on their body and face as even in 21 st century the society is not ready to accept them as a part of their family . Jobs are also refused to them because of their appearance that makes their sustenance even more difficult.
CONCLUSION & SUGGESTION
With the amendment of IPC , was a turning point for Criminal Justice System as now the focus is on the rehabilitation of the victim rather than focusing on the accused. Supreme Court passed a lot of directions related to the acid selling , producing etc. In the Laxmi vs Union of India case.
Article 21 of the constitution promises a life to dignity to all the citizen but the victims of acid attack faces a lot of hate from the society and they often face tremendous trouble to find a job for living , violating the right guaranteed by Constitution. Keeping the same in mind , there were bills passed by the legislation to rehabilitate the victims , like the NALSA scheme of 2016 and the Bill of 2017.
Several NGO’s are also independently working on the rehabilitation of survivors of acid attack. Laxmi,an attack survivor is the director of the NGO Chhanv Foundation which helps in recovery of survivors of acid attack by bridging the gap between them and the society.It also helps the victim by providing them with medical an legal aid and finding them alternate source of income. They ensure that an attack do not stop the beautiful souls to fulfil their dreams. Make Love not Scars , is another NGO working on the rehabilitation of the acid attack victims by ensuring that dignity and independence is provided to the survivors at every walk of life. This NGO acts as a safe heaven for the survivors and provide them medical, legal , educational and psychological rehabilitation. The 5 stage rehabilitation process followed by the NGO are medical , legal, educational , financial and psychological. The nation needs more NGO’s to take up rehabilitation of the victims.
Criminal law has now become more concerned on the rehabilitation and compensation scheme for the victim and it is very important for them as they have to face the lasting consequences on the act . We should focus on better rehabilitating facilities that would ensure proper growth of the victim both economically and emotionally. With proper job prospectus only the economical aspect will be covered, the government should also sensitize the public on the effects of the crime and promote acceptance .With changing time , it is also necessary that the legislation understands the dual consequence of an act and should make the offence gender neutral as it can be faced by any one and is not gender specific. The steps taken by Indian legislative system brings a ray of hope into the lives of the victim as it intends to give them a life to live with dignity .
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The Independent Pioneer 