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A month after a 17-year-old schoolgirl, on her way to school, was attacked with acid by two motorcycle-borne men in west Delhi’s Dwarka Mor, the police said Section 4(2) of the Poisons Act, 1919, has been invoked against the seller.
Under provisions of this Act, those found selling acid illegally can be fined up to ₹50,000, which is used for the rehabilitation of acid attack survivors.
The incident took place on December 14 near the Dwarka Mor metro station. Three people — Sachin Arora, 20, Harshit Agarwal, 19, and Virender Singh, 22 — were arrested for the attack.
The police said that the accused had confessed to buying a 100 ml bottle of acid from an Agra-based pharmaceutical company on Flipkart for ₹600.
While the police have been issuing notices to Flipkart regarding the sale of the corrosive substance, the response of the e-commerce platform was found to be “unsatisfactory”, said a senior police officer.
The officer added that they will file a chargesheet in the case within a month.
Talking about the state of the victim, who had suffered 8% burns on her face, neck and eyes, her uncle said, “She’s able to see properly, but is still in a state of shock.”
“She wants to become a judge. She was preparing for the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT). However, due to the incident, she had to miss the exam. As of now, she is concentrating on her Class XII Board exams, which are due next month,” her uncle added.
He said that the victim’s father now accompanies her everywhere she goes.
“He’s afraid of leaving her alone. We all just want our girls to be safe,” he added.
