Many identities scarred, still acid sale unabated

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service 

New Delhi, March 1

Notwithstanding Supreme Court’s strict directions in 2015 to curb the sale of deadly acids, the hazardous substance continues to be sold brazenly across India, with online sales surfacing among new marketing trends. 

Even though listed among WHO’s harmful substances list which mandates restricted availability only, acid can even today be procured over the counter and even more easily over the Internet. 

Speaking to The Tribune today on the sidelines of a seminar on “Acid attacks: The challenge and solution”, Shaheen Malik, a survivor of one such horrible assault, said, “I can get acid right across my street even today. I still see it being sold on cycles all around me.  Whenever I call the police, they arrive late. By then anyone interested in buying the deadly substance has already done so. Despite Supreme Court’s orders to ban acid, it’s freely available. Unless restricted, you will not see a drop in acid attack crimes.” The seminar was organised at the Women’s Press Corps. 

India saw more than 1,500 acid attack cases last year. This is much higher than in Bangladesh, where strict anti-acid availability laws have ensured lesser crimes. 

Mumbai-based plastic surgeon Dr Ashok Gupta, who has received Padma Shri for reconstructive surgeries on acid attack survivors, says Bangladesh reduced acid-related crimes from 1,200 a year to 200 by forceful implementation of laws restricting acid availability. 

“I still remember how after late Justice JS Verma batted for a law against acid attacks in 2012. The Centre held a meeting with all state chief secretaries nudging them to control acid sale. Five years later, there is no change in the situation,” Gupta said. Another hurdle in the way of rehabilitation of acid attack survivors is lack of money for expensive plastic surgeries. 

Shaheen Malik, who now works for Human Rights Law Network helping other victims like her, says, “The apex court has mandated free treatment for acid attack victims but most hospitals don’t honour the direction even today. I’ve seen doctors not putting their hundred per cent when they know the victim is seeking free treatment. Conversely, if they know the victim has the capacity to pay for her surgeries, they not only conduct those surgeries, they even give results.”

Malik, who was attacked in 2009 and has undergone a dozen surgeries but not got her face back, says an acid attack is an attack on the victim’s very existence. “It’s like being robbed of your identity. You see your face in the mirror and feel dead thousand times in a day. You are all by yourself. Friends and family also walk away after a while.”