INTRODUCTION
In this time we all see various kinds of crime and in past few years, we have seen a new face of crime in the form of acid attack. this new gender-based crime has taken its flight in India and I call it a gender-based is because of the gender of all the victims are none other than females of our society. in the Indian culture where we respect women as the goddess but still the highest number of cases against females are available in our own country.
Crime is just a simple word but still, it has a significant effect on our society, so whom we have to blame for the crime it is not a thing that god made for us but it is our own selfish and cruel mentality that led to crime flood in our country, we the people of a country are liable for the crime in our society.
CONSEQUENCES OF ACID ATTACK
It is noted that the main effects of the acid attack are lifelong body disfigurement. the acid attack is a violent assault by throwing acid substances mainly at the face of the victim, which damages the skin tissue’s and dissolves the skin of the victim and in some of the cases the victim ultimately got blind and lost their eyesight.
The acid attack destroys the life of the victim by distancing them from the social life, they cannot go to work and gets effect economically and most important psychological impact on the victim which traumatize his/her mental state. in the medical aspect of the acid attack, it cannot be recovered quickly and their no possibility of treating a disfigured face back to its normal state. the acid attack makes our body paralyzed as it rapidly eats away the layer of fat beneath the skin and even in some cases the underlying bones, eyelids and lips may be destroyed, the nose and ears severely damaged.
LAWS RELATED TO ACID ATTACK IN INDIA
In the past times, the law relating to doing grievous hurt to someone is not so affecting in the situations of acid attack cases, section 326 voluntary causing grievous hurt not so effective, so the eighteenth law commission headed by Justice A.R Lakshmanan which proposed addition of 2 important sections of INDIAN PENAL CODE 326A and 326B.
SECTION 326A-
voluntary causing grievous hurt by use of acid, whoever causes permanent or partial damage or deformity or burns or maims or disfigure or disable, any part or any parts of the body or by administering acid to that person, or using any weapon to cause or with the knowledge that he is likely to cause such injury to or hurt, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not less than 10 years which may extend to life imprisonment and with fine. the fine should be just and reasonable to meet the expenses of the medical treatment of the victim. fine is paid to the victim to meets its medical expenses and the offence is cognizable (In this police officer can arrest the defendant without the warrant and start an investigation without permission of the court) and this offence is a non-bailable offence (under which bail cannot be granted to the accused of the crime).
SECTION 326B-
whoever throws or attempts to administer acid to any person, or attempt to use any other means to cause permanent or partial damage or deformity or burns or maiming disfigurement or disability or grievous hurt to that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not less than 5 years but which may extend to 7 years and shall also be liable to fine.
REASON BEHIND THESE ACID ATTACKS
The noted reason for the attacks on females is because of the refusal of marriage, they denied having sex and the sexual reaction of the men’s and boys. it is a setup of mind to control over the bodies of the women and girls.
IMPORTANT CASES OF ACID ATTACK
Laxmi v. Union of India – [1]
In 2005 Laxmi was waiting for the bus but then suddenly 2 men came and poured on her because she denies marrying one of them, financially they are not very sound but fortunately they were by an individual who bears all the medical expense of about 2.5 lakhs. even after 4 surgeries it is very difficult to treat her face as she had in before so because of that her face remains horrific which made to live as an outcast in the society.
The court in this award the state to pay 3 lakhs towards medical treatment and aftercare rehabilitation and Rs. 1 lakh within 15 days of the incident and the balance within 15 days.
In this important case the court order that to stop selling on the acid attacks, it can be sell in the market only when the seller maintains the record of the buyers of acid, and the buyer must show his/her government approved identity card and should always state the reason behind buying such acid. all the records should be submitted to local police and most important seller should not sell acid to a person below the age of 18 years.
All the undeclared stocks of acid should be confiscated by the sub-divisional magistrate and fine should be imposed on the defaulter of about Rs. 50,000.
Devanand Vs the State– [2]
A man threw acid on his estranged wife because she refuses to cohabit with him ultimately, she suffered permanent disfigurement and lost one eye and the husband accused convicted under section 307 IPC and imprisoned for 7 years.
CONCLUSION
In normal circumstances even if we get a pimple or a scratch on our face we often hesitate to go out and meet people in daily life so let’s imagine the pain and suffering of the victims of acid attacks. the mental and physical pain which the survivors had to go through even the marriages got cancel and in future, it is quite impossible to get married or get back to their loved ones. the survivors had to live in the society as an outcast, it is impossible to regain a normal state of mind because the survivors always ride in a roller-coaster which is full of ups and downs emotionally.
Even the law is present regarding this issue but the government need to look into and grave punishments should be given to the accused so that it sets the example in the society.
REFERENCES
1] 2014 SCC 4 427.
2] Devanand Vs. The State 1987 (1) Crimes 314.
This blog is written by Shivam, Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies.
Visit our Instagram page @lawyergyan at this link.
