An
edited version of this blog was published on 7th August, 2013 in Lip-
So many women in Delhi have become victims of acid attacks in the past
couple of years. Hooligans, hiding their faces behind masks, mercilessly attack
these disarmed women. For these unscrupulous men, it is just a momentary act of
vengeance. High on testosterone and low on basic conscience, these ruthless men
do not hesitate in carrying out such audacious acts of violence. However for
the victimized women, these few seconds decide their fate-, which is either a
life full of condemnation and social disgrace or a painful torturous death. The
genesis of most such crimes is unrequited love. ‘Laxmi’ had to pay a big price
for spurning the advances of a man who was madly in love with her. Feeling
hurt and disgraced, he decided to satiate his ‘punctured’ male ego, by
disfiguring Laxmi’s face with corrosive acid. Laxmi was only 15 then. She was
encouraged by her father’s employer, ‘Shireen Jejeebhoy’ of the Population
Council to file a PIL. After a long battle, Laxmi finally succeeded in getting
the perpetrator convicted for 10 years. She has undergone a number of
reconstructive surgeries, all of which have been fully funded by Shireen
Jejeebhoy. However others have not been as lucky as Laxmi. Another such victim
was abandoned by her husband and laid off from her job. Her perpetrator is
still at large. She is desperately looking to be financially independent and
lives with her brother and father currently. Preeti Rathi, another such victim,
sadly succumbed to her injuries. Her parents are still struggling to get the
full compensation money, not to mention that her culprit is still on the run. I
was jubilant to know that the Supreme Court has taken stringent measures to
ensure that all sellers maintain a log of people who purchase acid, with the ‘intent
of purchase’ and ‘full contact details’ clearly mentioned. Along with
regulating the retail sale of acid, the Supreme Court has also increased the
compensation money for the victim’s kin, from 1 lakh to 3 lakhs of rupees.
However the need of the hour is to take preventive measures to avoid the
occurrence of such incidents in future. However sometimes I wonder what these
feasible measures could possibly be. We are born with a conscience, which is polished
and shaped through the process of socialization in the formative years of our
life. Correct upbringing and good education is the only way to tame the ego and
refine the attitude of this uncouth lot towards women.
Laxmi was lucky to have had the support of Shireen Jejeebhoy. I truly
appreciate Shireen’s humanitarian spirit and urge everyone to treat such acid
attack victims with respect and care, instead of ostracizing them and treating
them as social outcasts.
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