Acid Attack: Chappak

INTRODUCTION

“He changed my face, not my heart. He threw acid on my face, not on my dreams”.

-Laxmi Agrawal, Acid Attack Victim

This is the spirit that arises in the hearts of the survivors of the witness of such crime. They say acid can ruin their face but not their dreams as the one throwing acid aim at destroying them, their lives their family. Such crimes are not something which is created by God it is a creation of human instinct which can go down till any level to destroy the life of another human by any reason basically attached with their male ego and narcissistic satisfaction. In urban areas, there was a time when people use acid for household purpose but now the work of acid has reformed his way and used for destroying the lives of people and special women when they do not satisfy any male’s demand or attack their ego in any form.

Acid throwing is the most vicious form of crime in society. Just a “chappak” sound and the whole life of the victim get destroyed. The crime has a steep rise in the past few years and as usual, most of the victims are women. The horrific act of attacking women with acid has been taking place across different parts of the country. The man has chosen an alternative form of action to exploit the life of women when they see the women are reaching heights and becoming successful and the same is not accepted by them. Hydrochloric acid and Sulfuric acid which are easily available in the market are used for an acid attack that melts the skin and even bones of the victim. The main organ on which the attacker's aim is the face of the woman which depicts the beauty of a female. The motive behind maximum cases is the vengeance of rejection of dowry demand, refusing sexual harassment, Sexual exploitation or proposal of marriage.

LAW and ACID ATTACK

Till 2013 there was no specific law in India to deal with the cases of acid attack. Section 326(1) of the Indian Penal Code which deals with the cases of Voluntarily Causing Grievous Hurt by Dangerous Weapons or Means was not so effective in dealing with such dangerous form of crime because it does not include an acid specifically in the term means as the term means and weapon has nowhere defined. The eighteenth law commission of India which was headed by ‘Justice A.R. Lakshmanan’ on 30 March 2009 proposed a new Section 326A and 326B(2) in the India Penal Code and Section 114B in the Indian Evidence Act.

In acid attack cases, the presumption is incorporated in the Indian Evidence Act as Section 114B. The proposed Section 114B of the Indian Evidence Act shall read as under:

Presumption as to acid attack– “If a person has thrown acid on, or administered acid to, another person the court shall presume that such an act has been done with the intention of causing, or with the knowledge that such an act is likely to cause such hurt or injury as is mentioned in Section 326 A of the Indian Penal Code. This section was introduced to give a wide perspective to acid attack. Acid Attack was recently introduced as a separate offence under the Indian Penal Code through Criminal (Amendment) Act, 2013.”

Under Section-326A definition of acid includes any substance which has an acidic or corrosive character or burning nature that is capable of causing bodily injury leading to scars or disfigurement or temporary or permanent disability.

Section 326A of Indian Penal Code covers following acts:-

1. Causing permanent or partial damage or deformity to any person.
2. Causing burn.
3. Any person who maims or disfigures or disables any part or parts of the body of a person; or
4. Causing grievous hurt by throwing acid or by administering acid; or
5. Causing injury by any other means.

Causing any offence of the above category is punishable under the same section with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than 10 years but may extend to the imprisonment of life and with fine.

Section 326 B deals with the offence of voluntarily throwing acid and includes the following offences:-

1. Throwing or attempting to throw acid on any person, or
2. Attempting to administer acid to any person, or
3. Attempting to use any other means with the intention of

● Causing permanent, or

● Causing partial damage, or

● Causing deformity, or

● Causing burns, or

● Maiming, or

● Causing disfigurement or disability or grievous hurt.

The person will be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than 5 years but which may extend to 7 years and shall be liable to fine.

This amendment of 2013 included punishment for those people who practice this heinous form of crime but the amendment was useless because after also people continued this practice, therefore, there is a need to impose a ban on the sale of acid on shops and for the same many PIL’s has to be filed before the apex court.

CASES RELATED TO THE ACID ATTACK

In 2016 The Landmark judgment of Apex court on the issue of acid attack was given in the case of Laxmi v UOI,(3) where the honourable Court passed an order to put a ban on selling of acid in normal grocery shops. For preventing acid attacks, the Court has imposed a complete prohibition on the counter sale of the chemical unless the seller maintains a recording of the address and other details of the buyer and the quantum bought by it. Shopkeepers can now only sell the chemical after the buyer showed a government-issued photo identity card and after specifying the purpose of his purchase. The seller must submit the details of the sale to the local police within 3 days of the transaction. The age limit for buying acid is set to 18 years. All stocks must be declared with the local sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) within 15 days. Undeclared stocks could be confiscated and the defaulter should be fined up to Rs.50, 000. Acid attack is now a non-bailable and cognizance offence.

The Supreme Court directed all states to pay Rs. 3 lakh towards medical treatment and aftercare rehabilitation and Rs. 1 lakh within 15 days of an incident to and the balance within two months thereafter all the acid attack victims.

CONCLUSION

A ban on the sale of acid in the retail market is the only solution to stop the attempt of such heinous acts. "Acid violence is a crime of vengeance. The change in the law will be effective only when implemented properly. There is also a need to build awareness among people who sell acid. Instead of implementing new laws people's minds must be changed first.

The Crime of an Acid attack is not on a small range, day by day the ratio of girls being effected by such virus is increasing rapidly. Though we have made laws for protection those are not rigidly followed in our country. The judicial system takes so much time that the victim once affected by the crime get reminded of again and again in the courts and the feeling of the victim never fades. They are forced to live in the era of victimization and never move over the evil period of their lives. Need for awareness and help the victim to recover fast so that the objective of the attacker never gets fulfilled.

[The author, Pratibha Bansal is a final year law student at Banasthali Vidhyapith, Rajasthan]

1. The Indian Penal Code, 1860, Universal Publication, 127
2. The Indian Penal Code, 1860, Universal Publication, 127-128
3. (2016) 3 SCC 669