Introduction

The term acid attack is a colloquial term for the depiction of the heinous offence that
Section 326A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 defines:326A. Whoever causes permanent or partial damage or deformity to, or burns or maims or
disfigures or disables, any part or parts of the body of a person or causes grievous hurt by
throwing acid on or by administering acid to that person, or by using any other means with
the intention of causing or with the knowledge that he is likely to cause such injury or hurt,
shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less
than ten years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and with fine:
Provided that such fine shall be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses of
the treatment of the victim:
Provided further that any fine imposed under this section shall be paid to the victim.
Explanation 1.For the purposes of section 326A and this section, "acid" includes any
substance which has acidic or corrosive character or burning nature, that is capable of
causing bodily injury leading to scars or disfigurement or temporary or permanent disability.
Explanation 2. For the purposes of section 326A and this section, permanent or partial
damage or deformity shall not be required to be irreversible.
This section has been recently introduced vide the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act,
2013 and was not there as a statutory provision before 2013. This has happened due to the
huge outcry1 over the poor position of law relating to women after the gross injustice that
happened in the Nirbhaya rape case2 trial. This amendment to the laws making them more
stringent was a welcome move, and India has finally kept up its pace with the world on
criminal law, however, leaving ample room for improvement.
It is pertinent to note that, although the law is new, this crime is anything but a recent
one. This crime has gone unprosecuted for decades altogether now with voices of women
being silenced forever.

Harris, Gardiner, Clashes Break Out in India at a Protest Over a Rape Case, published by The New York
Times, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/world/asia/in-india-demonstrators-and-police-clash-atprotest-over-rape.html?_r=0, last accessed 15:27 UTC on 17-08-2014
2
See State Through Reference and ors. v. Ram Singh and ors., 2014 Indlaw DEL 819

Acid attack, is the act of throwing corrosive material on the body of a person with the
intent to disfigure, grievously hurt or kill the person. The most common consequence of acid
attack is blindness, and often death3. The acid attack victim is not only physically scarred
perpetually, but shattered socially and economically the victims are not accepted by society,
albeit the perpetrators of the crime are. The victim is left emotionally numb4 in most cases
the acid not only eats through the skin, but it eats away the soul forever. The acid attacks are
a gruesome crime5, one treated to be of the most violent category, often equated with rape.
The scar that this leaves is a permanent one, and this is a social pathology that can hardly be
treated by legislation if the mind-set of the people do not change. Bangladesh tops by number
of acid attacks reported6, while India did not even have reported acid attack incidents as it
was not an offence before 2013. The statistics show a very low mortality rate7 for acid attack
victims, but most of them are emotionally dead inside eventually when they are rejected by
society. But that societal rejection is considered an obstacle only recently, because before
2013, even law disregarded them. In India, an exceptionally hostile environment prevails
with regard to crimes against women, and India consistently gives enough reported incidents
to shamelessly make it to the top-ten unsafe countries for women8, even when the legal
provision for acid attack was not present.

Hooma Shah, Brutality by Acid: Utilizing Bangladesh as a Model to Fight Acid Violence in Pakistan, 26 WIS.
INTL L.J. 1172, 1173 (2009) (citing Leela Jacinto, Acid Attacks: A Brutal Crime of Passion, Victims of Acid
Attacks Battle to Beat the System (ABC News television broadcast Sept. 3, 2003))
4
Ibid. Page 1174.
5
Karmakar, R.N. (2003). Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. Academic Publishers. ISBN 81-87504-69-2
6
Taylor, L. M. (2000). Saving Face: Acid Attack Laws After the UN Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Ga. Journal Int'l & Comp. Law, 29, pp 395-419
7
Olaitan, Peter B.; Bernard C. Jiburum (January 2008). "Chemical injuries from assaults: An increasing trend in
a developing country". Indian Journal Of Plastic Surgery 41 (1): 2023
8
See report by Trust.org, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Worlds most dangerous countries for women,
available at http://www.trust.org/documents/2011-women-poll-results.pdf, last accessed 16:03 UTC on 17-082014