Goa govt must ensure strict enforcement of rules governing sale of corrosive substances
“An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.” Although this powerful statement by Mahatma Gandhi clearly describes how violence begetting violence causes enormous damage, very few have taken lesson from it. Since the advent of various civilisations, emperors and kings have waged wars with their rivals for gaining power. At a smaller level, countless neighbours have fought with each other over trivial matters, with such quarrels creating hostile atmosphere in the neigbourhood. Human life is limited, yet most of it is spent in hating others. Every religion speaks of love and compassion, however, only a handful of their innumerable followers believe in it. It’s the strangest irony of life.
The recent incident wherein a 17-year-old boy was attacked with an acid-like substance while waiting at a bus stop at Sukekolan, Dhargalim is a heinous act on the part of the perpetrator. The police did act swiftly and arrested the accused within 10 hours of the assault. However, the sufferings of the teenager would continue for weeks, months and years. He has sustained severe burn injuries, including serious injuries to the right side of his face. The burn wounds may heal, but the scar of the painful incident will surely haunt the boy for a lifetime. It’s a crime that is inhuman and savage at the same time.
The premeditated attack, according to the police, has been made by the accused, a resident of a village in Dodamarg, Maharashtra, due to a suspected love affair involving his daughter and the victim. The accused, confessing the crime, disclosed that he attacked the boy as his daughter had died a month back and the Sindhudurg police are still investigating this unnatural death case. Furthermore, the accused alleged that the teenage boy was linked to the death of his daughter. Driven by this belief, the accused planned the strike and procured the chemical from the company where he worked.
Several acid attacks have been reported all over the country in the past. However, this could be the first such incident in Goa, involving intentional throwing of a corrosive substance on a person, causing severe burns and disfigurement. Such attacks, which are often motivated by revenge, jealousy or anger – particularly in cases of rejected proposals or domestic disputes – result from extreme feat of anger.
The case of Laxmi Agarwal, an acid assault survivor, who was attacked at the age of 15, is well-known, and was even instrumental in the production of the 2020 film ‘Chhapaak’. Laxmi is now a campaigner for rights of acid attack victims. She is also the founder and president of the Laxmi Foundation, an NGO dedicated to acid attack victims. A winner of the UNICEF award for her ‘Stop Acid Sale’ campaign, Laxmi was a victim of one-sided love, for she had rejected the wedding proposal of a man working in her neighbourhood. Laxmi later filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court and pleaded for a total ban on the sale of acid, citing an increasing number of incidents of such attacks on women across the country.
The apex court did rule in favour of the plea by creating a fresh set of restrictions on the sale of acid in the country, however, these guidelines are very lenient. The Goa government now needs to enact more stringent laws for regulating the sale and storage of corrosive substances and ensure strict enforcement. That would be the real acid test for the state administration.
