Tuesday 4 June 2013

An acid attack is worse than murder for it makes life a living hell

This was one of those posts that I began and then gave up midway. It was lying as a 'draft' for months. And for the past few days, ever since Preeti Rathi's case made the headlines,  I have been thinking a lot on the subject of acid attacks.

Acid attacks is one of the most barbaric crimes. In India, the perpetrators are usually men who cannot take ‘no’ for an answer and so seek to destroy the woman. The crime is so horrific that the woman is disfigured for life. She loses her identity, her future and with it the will to live. Everything is destroyed and some victims have described the attack apart from the searing pain, physical torture and disfigurement, as something worse than death.

Every other day we hear of an acid attack on a young woman. Delhi alone saw 56 acid attacks over a span of three months.

The recent amendments to the law give ten years to a maximum of life imprisonment to the criminal for destroying another human being. The punishment should be for life, nothing less! There shouldn't be bail for such a horrific crime. A person who can willfully destroy another human being in this fashion, is very dangerous to have around and should be behind bars.

Even though the Justice Verma committee had recommended life imprisonment for the culprits, our law makers reduced it to ten years of imprisonment and some fine. The new law has nothing on the rehabilitation of the victim, who needs to spend on reconstructive surgery, usually falls into depression, and finds it hard to get employment and carry on a normal life. Till date, there has been no effort to curb the sale of the corrosive acid which is very easy to procure and available in every market.

Why is there such leniency towards the culprits? All I can say is that our law makers have failed to feel the pain and the horror of an acid attack and what it can do to a woman. They have done nothing for her rehabilitation.

Recent cases of acid attacks
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/UttarPradesh/Acid-attack-on-4-sisters-in-UP-one-risks-losing-sight/Article1-1036574.aspx

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/vinodhini-karaikal-acid-attack-victim-dies/article4406780.ece

The new law does not help victims
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Acid-attacks-New-law-hikes-punishment-but-doesn-t-help-victims/Article1-1038797.aspx

And this - Acid attacks in Italy - http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/05/13/acid-attacks-against-women-on-the-rise-in-italy.html

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