Strict law must enacted to ensure maximum punishment to acid attackers

MUMBAI: What kind of a coward is a man who flings acid on a young girl and runs away? There are disturbing questions as yet another horrifying case of acid attack came to light in Mumbai on Thursday. A 25-year-old woman who had just arrived at Bandra terminus from Delhi to join the Colaba army hospital as a nurse lost her right eye and suffered severe burns on her face, hand and in the gullet when a masked man threw sulphuric acid on her. In seconds, the woman's hopes and aspirations gave way to pain and trauma. Was it a jilted lover who did it? Or was it a raving maniac? We will never know till the police find him. Acid attacks are the most extreme kind of cruelty against women.

Recently, the centre issued an ordinance which sought a minimum 10-year-sentence to acid attack offenders. However, the supreme court said this will not be enough to curb the menace in the absence of statutory provisions to treat, rehabilitate and compensate the victims of such assaults. "Let us do a comprehensive exercise and not merely prescribe deterrent punishment. The ordinance imposes a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh on the offender. But if the convict is not in a position to pay, should the state not step in to treat, rehabilitate and compensate the victim? Should there not be a separate fund for this purpose," asked the court.

The ordinance promulgated on February 3 inserted a new section, 326A, in the Indian Penal Code, making acid attacks a gender-neutral offence. A person convicted under it would be punished with a minimum of 10 years imprisonment, which could extend to life term and the convict could be asked to pay up to Rs 10 lakh as fine.

Some experts say it's a myth that women are attacked with acid only after they reject sexual advances. Instead, it's a form of gender violence; targets are women who exercise their independence.

In one memorable case, a woman got justice after her former boss Joseph Rodrigues poured 1.5 litres of sulphuric acid on her when she quit her job in his financially unstable firm in 1999. The acid melted her face, fused her shoulder and neck, burnt a hole in her head, merged her fingers and blinded her for life. In 2006, the Karnataka high court sentenced Rodrigues to life imprisonment.

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