Acid attack victims should be compensated: Activist

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 6

The Centre for Human Rights and Duties, PU, in collaboration with the Chandigarh State Legal Services Authority, celebrated International Women’s Day on Wednesday.

A panel discussion on ‘Human Rights Advocacy for Acid Attack survivors’ was organised.

Dr Namita Gupta, Chairperson of the Department, said the theme for International Women’s Day is ‘Balance for Better’.

“A balance cannot be maintained in a society which discriminates against half of the world population. Acid attack is one of the most heinous forms of violence and we should raise our voice against such crimes,” she said.

Justice AB Chaudhri of the Punjab and Haryana High Court said though various laws and policies had been framed to protect women from various forms of violence, but the ground reality was different. “There has been lack of speedy trial and assistance to victims,” he added.

Ritu Saini, an acid-attack survivor and a social worker from Delhi, revealed that she was only 18 years old when her cousin paid someone to throw acid on her.

“I was a state-level volleyball player. However, this one incident changed my life. I have suffered physically and mentally,” she said. She shared that her campaign ‘Stop Acid Attack’ and ‘Sheroes Hangout Café’ was being run by acid-attack survivors in Lucknow and Agra.

Veena Kumari, state director, Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), Chandigarh, made reference to various cases, especially Supreme Court Judgment of 2013 in Laxmi vs. Union of India. She said sale of acid should be banned and talked about various entitlements that should be given to acid-attack victims.

“The perpetrator should pay compensation to the victim,” she asserted. Navpreet Kaur, founder member, Stop Sale Acid Campaign, concluded with the findings of her study. “One of the prominent reasons behind such crime is patriarchy,” she said.