Fifth acid attack on Indian woman
The 35-year-old has sustained burns on face and shoulders.
(Web Desk) – A survivor of an alleged gang rape and four acid attacks has once again been brutally attacked with acid, according to the Indian police.
The 35-year-old woman, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, was attacked outside a women’s hostel in Uttar Pradesh State capital, Lucknow. The man fled from the spot after attacking the victim. The local police chief Vivek Tripathi said, “She was filling water at the hand pump when the attack took place. The attacker fled from the spot.”
In 2008, she was allegedly attacked by two men, gang-raped and attacked with acid, over a property dispute. The woman was again attacked by the same two men in 2012 and 2013. She was also forced to drink acid while she was traveling on a train in March.
According to AFP the two men were released on bail in April this year.
She had been receiving round the clock police protection due to the nature of her previous brutal attacks.There is a manhunt going on around finding the assailant, the police added.
But there is growing concern over the inability of the police to protect her.The woman is now under observation and receiving treatment in the hospital. She has sustained burns on her face and shoulders.
According to ASFI (Acid Survivors Foundation in India), “There is no separate statistics for acid violence cases in India till early 2013 because the Indian criminal Law did not recognise it as a separate offence. With the amendment in Indian Penal Code in February 2013, incidents of acid attack are now being recorded as a separate offence under section 326A and 326B. The first data available after the amendment relate to the year 2014 when 225 cases were reported from all over India. This indicates a steep rise compared to the previous years - 106 in 2012 and 116 in 2013.”
“The latest figures indicate that earlier estimates of likely number of cases at 100 to 500 per annum made on the basis of past records & comparison with neighbouring countries where similar socioeconomic conditions prevail were perhaps nearer the truth. With the amendments in Indian Penal Code, the reporting / classification of acid violence seems to have gained momentum and the official record for 2014 puts the number of incidents of acid violence all over India at 225 and the number for 2015 has been even higher at 249. This validates the earlier estimation of 100 - 500 cases every year.”
Amidst these recent acid attacks in India, there have been countless NGOs working to support and help the victims. Laxmi Agarwal, an acid attack survivor is a public speaker and an activist who is also part of an organization, Stop Acid Attack that aims to sensitise and educate people about the horrors of acid attacks.
Laxmi Agarwal speaking at an TEDx event
