Acid Attack: A New Form of Violence Needs to be Addressed

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Introduction

Acid attack is a new form of violence or use of physical assaults where the victim suffers from grievous injuries due to the throwing of acid or any form of corrosive material with the purpose to maim, disfigure, torture, or kill an individual. Generally, it's found that most of the victims of such crime are young women who are unmarried and faced such circumstances of harassment by the accused in the public place or have rejected marriage proposals or sexual favors and due to that it hurt the ego of the accused and due to aggression, they committed such offense.

Cases of violence in the form of Acid Attack

Nowadays cases of corrosive assaults have increased drastically, where based on the news reports, it’s found about 72% of reported assaults, females are the victims of such crime. The occurrence pace concoction ambushes in India has been expanding in the previous decade, with a high 27 detailed cases in 2010. By and large, from January 2002 to October 2010, 153 instances of incidents were reported in Indian, moreover, over 174 matters were reported for the time of 2000. The inspiration driving corrosive assaults in India is - Revenge, viz. 34% of the broken-down print media in India referred to the dismissal of marriage or refusal by ladies of lewd gestures as the reason for the assault and share differences have appeared to spike corrosive assaults. The land, property, as well as business questions, represented 20% of corrosive attacks in India from 2002 to 2010. (1)

Incidents of Acid Attacks in different nations

Today, corrosive assaults are accounted for in numerous pieces of the world. Since the 1990s, Bangladesh has been revealing the most noteworthy number of assaults and most noteworthy rate rates for women with 3,512 Bangladeshi individual’s corrosives assaulted somewhere in the range of 1999 and 2013. India is additionally now on high modifying of corrosive assault after the instance of Lakshmi. In 2000 in India there were 174 instances of corrosive assault yet now it has taken an unexpected ascent. Be that as it may, Bangladesh is the nation which has the most noteworthy number of cases in the corrosive assault. (2)

Since corrosive substances are so promptly accessible over the counter in clinical and different stores, corrosive assaults become a moderately modest and powerful method of submitting demonstrations of brutality against women. Corrosive assault is normal in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Cambodia, and a couple of different nations. The whole way across the nation, one can stroll into various shops in the country or urban focuses and buy any measure of exceptionally thought corrosive from retailers, who scarcely raise an eyebrow when offering this profoundly destructive substance to their shoppers. (3)

Legal Provisions

Till as of late there was no particular law in India to manage the instances of corrosive assault. Section 326 of the Indian Penal Code which manages intentionally causing Grievous Hurt by Dangerous Weapons or Means was not all that powerful in managing this offensive type of wrongdoing since it does exclude corrosive assault. The eighteenth law commission of India which was going by Justice A.R. Lakshmanan then proposed another segment 326A and 326B in the India Penal Code and area 114B in the Indian Evidence Act. (4)

The place additionally doesn't determine who the fine ought to be granted to the segment doesn't rebuff the purposeful demonstration of tossing of corrosive if no wounds happen. Further in instances of corrosive assault an assumption is fused in the Indian Evidence Act as Section 114B. The proposed Section 114B of the Indian Evidence Act will in order to help the acid attack victims, there is an urgent requirement of issuing direction where the State Governments/Union Territories ought to truly examine and take up the issue with all the private clinics in their separate State/Union Territory such that the private clinics ought not to decline treatment to survivors of corrosive assault and that full treatment ought to be given to such casualties including medications, food, bedding, and reconstructive medical procedures. Apart from that, there is a requirement of the establishment of the emergency clinic, where the survivor of a corrosive assault is first treated, should give a declaration that the individual is a casualty of a corrosive assault. This testament might be used by the casualty for treatment and reconstructive medical procedures or whatever other plans that the casualty might be qualified for with the State Government or the Union Territory, by and large.

Perspective on the Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court of India paid attention to it very much. The three pleadings that were brought under the steady gaze of the Court by the Laxmi were extremely clear and the Court comprehended the requirement for explicit law for corrosive assaults. As our neighbouring nation, Bangladesh has just surrounded the guidelines identifying with deal and acquisition of corrosive to check the corrosive assaults and has seen a decrease in the corrosive assault urged the Supreme Court to outline the guidelines. Initially, in such a manner on 6-2-2013, the Supreme Court coordinated the Home Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs partner the Secretary, Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers to pass on the gathering to talk about the accompanying viewpoints:

1)To institute any suitable arrangement to control the offer of corrosive in that specific state or association region

2) To take suitable measures to restore the corrosive casualties and in any event, for their legitimate treatment

3)And the remuneration payable to the corrosive assault casualties by state or making of some different store for the installment of pay to the corrosive assault casualties

At first, different State governments and Union territories have documented their affirmations. Also, the Central Government guaranteed to the Court that it will sit with all-state Governments and Union domains too to outline the rules to control the offer of corrosive. But it neglected to do that so now that is left to the Supreme Court to outline the guidelines identifying deals and acquisition of Acids. Justice Lodha by scrutinizing the carelessness of government said Seriousness isn't seen with respect to the Government in taking care of the issue. So, the Honorable Supreme Court by keeping the protected arrangements of Arts. 21, 14, 15, and 32 as the main priority to give the rules. Under the new rules:

Any person who is less than the age of 18 years should not be given acid -

•  The person who is purchasing acid is required to produce his identity card.

• The person who is purchasing acid has to state the reason behind purchasing the acid to the shopkeeper.

• The person who is selling the acid is required to mandatory submit the documents to the police within his jurisdiction or nearby station within a period of 3 days.

• The person selling the acid is bound to share all the details about the stocks of acid to the sub-divisional-magistrate within a period of 15 days.

• In case of undeclared stock of acid, it will be opened to the concerned sub-divisional-magistrate to confiscate the stock and suitably impose fine up to 50,000/- (5) 

The educational institutions, research laboratories, government departments, and government departments of public sector undertakings if they are required to keep the stocks of the acid then they have to follow the following guidelines:

• A register has to be maintained regarding the usage of the acid and the same shall be filed with the Sub-Divisional Magistrate

• A person shall be made accountable for possession and safekeeping of acid in their premise

• The acid shall be stored under the control and guidance of an individual and it's necessary to go for checking on the students, and the person leaving the laboratory in various institutions. (6)

Conclusion

Even there was a need for a law that deals with acid attacks with stringent punishment for convicts and fair compensation to the victim. The pleading before the Court is needed in order to frame new laws in order to prevent the instances of violence by throwing acid on any individual and amending the provisions under the Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act, and Criminal Procedure Code to insert a provision that the Acid Attack is an offence.

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