Unabated Acid Attacks Continue To Corrode Indian Women And The Society

A day before a rape survivor was burnt alive by two of her rapists while she was on her way for court hearing, a 30-year-old woman was attacked by acid by four men in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, for refusing to withdraw her complaint for rape against them from court.

The survivor suffered 30 per cent burns and is currently undergoing treatment at a Meerut hospital.

Earlier in November, two bike-borne men attacked a 23-year-old female staffer of Punjab National Bank while she was on her way to work in Ghaziabad's Mohan Nagar area.

The woman had suffered 20 per cent burns and claimed that her two former colleagues carried out the attack, one of whom had been harassing her for months.

Not a ¡°lesser crime¡±

Acid attacks are just as grave as other crimes committed against women in the country, but are often neglected and tagged as ¡°lesser crimes.¡± India is among the most unsafe countries for women with spiralling rates of violence against females.

There are 250 to 300 acid attacks reported in India every year, despite laws restricting the sale of acid or other deadly chemicals.

According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics, a total of 244 acid attack cases were recorded across the country in 2017. Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 56 cases, West Bengal reported 54 cases, national capital New Delhi was at third spot with 14 cases and Kerala and Odisha had the fourth highest number of acid attacks at 13 cases each.

Instances of brutal rape and violence against the women who report it have given India a dismal reputation of being one of the worst places in the world to be female.

On an average, there were at least 16 cases of crimes against women every hour and 986 crimes every day in 2017. That year, there were 3.6 lakh cases of crimes registered.

Rape formed over 10 percent of total crimes against women, according to the NCRB data. Up to 33,658 women were raped in 2017. That means one woman was raped every 15 minutes.

The figure in acid attacks is expected to be much higher than the reported figure, similar to that of rape cases. There are many unreported cases of acid attacks where victims die, especially in rural areas. Sometimes, people try to hide information if the attacker was the husband or a family member of the victim.

The Supreme Court of India, earlier this year, said that acid attacks are, ¡°uncivilised and heartless crimes¡± and perpetrators do not deserve any clemency.

¡°A crime of this nature does not deserve any kind of clemency. This court cannot be oblivious of the situation that the victim must have suffered emotional distress, which cannot be compensated either by sentencing the accused or by grant of any compensation,¡± the bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Ajay Rastogi observed in a judgement.

It was in 2013 when acid attacks were made a criminal offence, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Prior to that, no law dealt specifically with acid attacks.

Free-flow of acid in market

In a bid to curb rising cases of acid attacks on women, over-the-counter sale of acid was banned more than six years ago in the country. Only authorised outlets were directed to sell the volatile liquid provided buyers produce proper identity proof and transaction details are sent to the police within three days.

Six years on, thousands of acid bottles are being sold across the country in complete violation of the law. A bottle of acid costs between Rs 60 to Rs 100. Unregulated acid sale is a major cause for continued acid attacks against women.

Most attacks follow a similar theme: a woman declining a marriage proposal, saying no to sexual advances or stepping out of her implicit gender role. In all such cases, a ¡°no¡± is perceived to challenge the authority of a male in the patriarchal Indian society. These instances are enough to instigate an attack.

Surveys and research shows most survivors of acid attacks are aged between 18-28.

Gender terrorism

Acid attacks rarely result in death but the horror of the attack is nevertheless striking. Within seconds, acid melts skin, fat, muscle and sometimes bone.

The consequences of these attacks include blindness, abnormal scarring which destroys the functionality of the face and body. In addition, victims suffer excruciating pain due to their injuries.

Women, who already grow up in a patriarchal society full of stigma and acute power imbalance, have to deal with the physical and emotional trauma of the attack and the disfigurement of face and body that follows.

The violent act is a threatening message not only to the victim, but to women in general, leaving many in a permanent state of fear.

In 2012, Pakistani documentary Saving Face that tells the stories of Pakistani women who were victims of acid attacks, and follows them through their fight for justice, through their battle to get their lives back, won an Oscar.

In India, a female filmmaker touched upon the sensitive topic of acid attacks with ¡°Chhapaak¡±.

There are numerous inspiring stories of acid attack survivors, who refused to succumb to their perpetrators, stood up for themselves and started their lives over.

However, most women continue to live as social pariahs following mutilation. There aren't many opportunities for them. They are left with little hope.

The need of the hour is to address these often-neglected crimes. The attacks will continue if the country does not treat the attackers more harshly and the victims more generously.