Recently, a 45-year-old woman from Golugonda village located in the Agency area of the district, succumbed to an acid attack. She suffered over 80 per cent burns, when the man with whom she was living in, poured about one litre of sulphuric acid on her.
A couple of months ago, another jilted lover poured about five litres of acid on 25-year-old Hazeeda and her mother Zareena (46) in Machilipatnam. While the mother succumbed to burns during treatment, Hazeeda survived with over 60 per cent burns.
The question that arises, from where do these people get acid in such huge quantity, and is there no restriction on its purchase? “There is a restriction, but it is not being followed,” says Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) S. Varada Raju.
Concentrated acid can be procured from authorised dealers only on producing the trade licence. But the pilferage from the end users is very high, according to the ADCP.
In the case of Bunga Lakshmi of Golugonda, the accused, T. Arjun, stole acid from a milk chilling unit and in the Machilipatnam case, the accused Subhani used the acid that he procured for his gold purifying business.
“Even a small quantity is harmful, and it is very difficult to keep a tab on the end users. But the law has been made stricter,” says Mr. Varada Raju.
The earlier Acid Attack Act was amended and incorporated into the newly formed Criminal Law Amendment Act- 2013, which was created after the brutal gang-rape of a physiotherapy student in December 2012, under Section 326 A of IPC. As per the section, a person throwing acid can be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life. The offender should also pay a hefty fine that will meet the medical expenses of the victim, says the ADCP.
In the present scenario, most of the police stations are loaded with cases pertaining to domestic violence. According to the Fifth Town Police Station SHO, Emmanuel Raj, 498-A cases are on the rise and they receive at least four complaints on a daily basis.
To handle the rising family related cases, an exclusive Women Police Station was initiated a few years ago.
Profiling the cases, the SHO of the Women Police Station N. Bhoopal, says, “Basically, society is segmented into three categories, poor, middle class and the affluent. In the case of the poor, most of the cases relate to excessive drinking, in the middle class segment a majority of the domestic violence is due to financial needs and in the higher segment it is due to illicit connections.”
According to the sub-inspector of the WPS, Section 498 A is a double-edged sword. “It comes to the rescue of many women, but at the same time it is equally misused,” she says.
Sources at WPS say that ego is another problem, which is leading to non-compatibility among the couples and the law is being misused to satisfy the ego.
