A good seven years after the Supreme Court ordered an end to over-the-counter sale of acid, nothing has changed in Bengaluru. Acid is easily available in shops across the city, a Metrolife reality check has found.
Police say easy availability of acid is the primary reason for the deadly attacks.
Metrolife went to hardware stores across the city, and bought five 500 ml bottles of acid for Rs 45 each.
This reporter bought the deadly liquid from K R Puram, Fraser Town, Mayalanahalli, and near Ulsoor. Many people use acid to clean stubborn bathroom and floor stains. No shopkeeper asked for any proof of identity or even asked why the acid was required.
Doctors agree easy access is a huge problem. Ramesh KT, head of the department of plastic surgery at Victoria Hospital, says acid attack numbers have come down over the years, but zero is the ideal number.
“We get two or three patients a year. The victims are usually attacked on the face and hands. The acid completely burns the skin and disfigures the face, limbs and eyes. In some cases, the victim loses her eyesight,” Ramesh told Metrolife.
Plastic surgery reconstruction can never bring back the original look. It is only a life-saving procedure. It takes multiple surgeries to achieve even 50 per cent success, says Ramesh.
Victims, usually between 25 and 34, are depressed. The attack scars them for life. Most families are supportive, but the victims struggle to get back to normal, he says.
Dr Sanjiv Lewin, chief of medical services, St John’s Medical College Hospital and Dr Rajeshwari, in-charge of the burns unit, says the burns ward manages 150 to 180 patients annually. “There are a host of plastic surgeons, nurses, counsellors and a rehabilitation team at the hospital. The total burn patients in 2019 were 367. Of these three to five were industrial chemical burns and homicidal acid burns were negligible,” he says.
In the last three months, the hospital has treated 10 ‘chemical burns’ patients, eight of them related to the accidental explosion at the forensic lab in Bengaluru. Two were nonindustrial intentional acid attacks.
Acid burns are chemical burns. Even 30 per cent burns require 45 to 50 days in the hospital and the cost of treatment ranges from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, says Dr Sanjiv.
Worse than rape: Top cop
City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao says women are high achievers, while the attackers are usually “underachievers who have no goal and harbour a lot of hatred.” Most acid attack cases are reported in lower and middle-class families. “Victims of acid attack are deformed for life. It is worse than rape,” he says.
Zero convictions in five years
Not a single acid attack case filed in the last five years has ended in a conviction. A senior police officer attributes it to the “long-drawn judicial procedure.” “Most of the time, the witnesses don’t turn up or are threatened into silence. As the years go by, the witnesses give up hope and lose interest in appearing before the court,” he told Metrolife.
10 years in jail
Section 326 A of the Indian Penal Code lays down a minimum punishment of 10 years imprisonment for an acid attack. The punishment can extend up to life imprisonment with a fine.
Acid attack cases in Bengaluru
2019 5
2018 2
2017 4
2016 1
2015 0
(City police crime branch records)
Recent attacks in Bengaluru
December 9, 2019: A 28-year-old man committed suicide a day after throwing acid on his wife Swetha M and sister-in-law Anusha. He was unhappy after his wife left him on grounds of incompatibility. The women suffered injuries on the face, eyes and neck.
December 22, 2019: Two men were arrested for throwing an ‘acid-like chemical’ on a 35-year-old woman bus conductor. A love affair gone wrong is suspected to be the motive. The woman suffered burn injuries on her face, neck, and chest.
January 13, 2020: A gang of eight men threw acid on a 38-year-old woman. She sustained burns on her left hand and chest. This gang had been after the woman and her husband to sell an acre and six guntas of land. The woman was attacked because she refused to sell.
Films on acid attack
There have been countless films made on acid attack survivors.
Here’s a quick list of the latest such films.
‘Chhapaak’, the latest to join the list of films made on acid attack victims. Directed by Meghana Gulzar, the film stars Deepika Padukone, Vikrant Massey, Vishal Dahiya and Madhurjeet Sarghi. The story traces the trials and triumphs of Malti, an acid attack survivor.
Tamil actor Vijay’s latest film ‘Bigil’ touches upon the life of an acid attack survivor, whose dream of making it to the national football team is shattered when the perpetrator throws acid on her face for refusing his proposal. How she bounces back and overcomes the depression is captured well in the story.
‘Uyare’, a Malayalam film, directed by Manu Ashokan, has actor Parvathy playing an acid attack survivor.