Take acid attacks seriously - they are worse than murder

I was very dismayed to read Annu Mukherjee's story in the Hindustan Times today. The young woman had surmounted many hurdles to make a decent life for herself and her brother. The acid attackers not only snatched away her means to a livelihood, disfigured and blinded her, but threw her into facing a lonely tragic life. Her brother, who she was was supporting had to stop his studies.  What was extremely heart wrenching was that the attackers also took away Annu's ability to cry. Her eyes have been so disfigured that tears do not come anymore.

And  what was the punishment the attackers got? Five years in jail and a Rs 1,60,000 fine. Today they are roaming free. An inadequate punishment for disfiguring a woman for life, blinding her, snatching away her identity and only source of income, leaving her to a life of penury and loneliness.

The attackers should have been behind bars for life. For they are extremely dangerous to be let out in society. Now that they have been freed, they should be made to contribute towards her medical and living expenses. Fifty per cent of what Meena Khan and her brother earn should go to Annu till she is in a position to support herself by opening the dance school she wants. What do you say?

Earlier post: An acid attack is wrose than murder for it makes life a living hell

And this news item  -

SC curbs acid sale, orders more money for victims

Please sign the petition -- Justice for Preeti Rathi

The life of Preeti Rathi, a young vivacious girl who was on the verge of starting a career as a nurse, was cut short by a  man who threw acid on her in Mumbai. She was injured so severely that she passed away after fighting a  month-long battle.

Preeti Rathi's father, Amar Singh Rathi,  is making an appeal that you sign the petition demanding an a CBI enquiry into who threw the acid on his daughter.  In his petition he says: " I demand justice for my daughter who suffered so much because of this criminal. After my daughter passed away, I met the home minister of Maharashtra, R.R.Patil, and demanded a CBI enquiry. He promised an enquiry but I have not been provided with any time frame for it. The enquiry has not even started yet.

With every passing day, the chance of nabbing the culprit is getting bleaker. I have started this petition to ensure that the Home Minister keeps his promise and the enquiry is started as soon as possible."

The rising number of acid attacks on young girls is a very worrying trend. Unfortunately, the punishment so far meted out to such criminals hardly matches the severity of the life-long damage they inflict on the women.

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

More gang rapes and a new law

Today three ghastly stories of  rape were reported. Two of them were of gang rape, and one was about a sessions court announcing the punishment for the founder of a home for orphans in Mumbai who had raped the inmates under his care, often with accomplices.  Each of these stories is a chilly reminder of how unsafe it is to be a girl or a woman in India. These crimes come in the wake of the gang rape of a Swiss tourist as she camped with her husband in Madhya Pradesh and a British tourist who jumped from the  first floor balcony of her hotel when the owner tried to assault her.  

Links to the three articles -

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/MadhyaPradesh/MP-Girls-gangraped-in-front-of-family/Article1-1029575.aspx

 

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/UttarPradesh/Ghaziabad-19-yr-old-flags-share-auto-near-Shipra-Mall-is-gangraped/Article1-1022162.aspx

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Death-for-Mumbai-orphanage-founder-for-rape/Article1-1030227.aspx



But today, there is a difference. For along with the these terrible cases was the news was that the Upper House of Parliament, Rajya Sabha,  had passed the anti-rape law which provides for stringent punishment to offenders of sexual violence, and makes stalking a crime in India (for the first time and high time!)

The law is somewhat a watered down version of the recommendations made by the Justice Verma Committee. The debate in Lok Sabha saw our elected legislators sniggering, laughing, making outrageous comments during discussions on the bill. It showed the mindsets of the persons we elect as leaders  A very sad commentary, indeed. But I am a born optimist and I see the new law as a step in the right direction. Look: At least they found the time to discuss the issue, which had been pushed into oblivion by our political worthies for decades. It took the very tragic and brutal death of a student following a gang rape  in a bus that moved on the streets of  South Delhi to to shake the country out of its stupor. If this could happen in South Delhi,  India's poshest area, what would be the situation be for women elsewhere? Shudder!

Our leaders showed their utter ignorance of the reality for the Indian woman by making stupid outrageous remarks. Wish women could band together and see that men like these never get elected for another term. I think the time is coming when this will be a reality. The out-of-sync leaders will be shaken off as dead wood. And it will be the urban  young educated women and men who will be leading the charge. We saw the wonderful and spontaneous way they came out demanding that the country be made safer for women.  

The law that was passed could have been stiffer. Why  are the perpetrators of acid attacks not being given life imprisonment? The number of women in India who become victims to acid attacks by men who cannot take 'no' for an answer is just too large to be ignored. These women are scarred for life. And the man receives little or no punishment, and goes about living a normal life. It is sad that the legislators did not view the crime with the seriousness it deserves. 

And marital rape failed to find mention. Also, even boys are raped. I have come across brutal cases of homosexuals having been  raped, two of them by policemen!

But I am glad that our legislators have at least started noticing that crime against woman needs to be tackled. And have started talking about the issue. The safety of our girls and women, and of those who come to this land as visitors, should be given paramount importance. For a home, or a country, where women feel unsafe has a lot to introspect on.