Staff Reporter
Daska/Islamabad
Three accused attacked a girl with acid in a village of Daska over refusal of marriage proposal on Sunday. The accused entered into house in Ismail Awan village in Motra police station jurisdiction and thrown acid at the victim girl and fled from the scene, local police said.
Acid attack burnt face and body parts of the victim and she was transferred to a hospital in Lahore in a precarious condition. The police have registered FIR of the incident and conducting raids for arrest of the accused, local officials said.
It is pertinent to mention here that an anti-terrorism court in January awarded 34 years sentence to a man who had thrown acid at a woman in Lahore. The court in its verdict handed Hamayun Maseeh 34 years jail term along with Rs. 2.2 million fine. Hamayun had attacked Nazia Bibi with acid in Factory Area of Lahore over a personal grudge in September 2019.
Acid attacks are rampant in Pakistan and a serious issue and one of the worst forms of violence against women in Pakistani society. The efforts of rights activists was resulted in passage of the Acid and Burn Crime Bill 2017, in the National Assembly of Pakistan. The law also promises rehabilitation for victims of acid attack.
The acid violence stricken women across the country have expressed their reservations over weak legislation and implementation of the existing laws to ensure free and swift justice to curb this menace. According to them, joint efforts are required to introduce new legislation demanded to address this concerning issue besides effective implementation of existing laws to give relief to burn victims and taking the culprits behind the bar needed.
Executive Director, Group Development Pakistan, Valerie Khan said that the best way to empower acid victim survivors is to enact the existing domestic violence bill and other related legislation to stop domestic violence in society. She stressed the need for access of acid survivals to socio economic support programs besides dissemination of their success stories through media and adopting of a comprehensive approach to make them useful citizens of the society.
She said that passage of the Criminal Law Amendment Act marks a milestone in the history of the country adding she said the major challenge is its effective implementation to further bring down the number of acid attack cases. She said that there is also a need to improve the legal framework so that other aspects of acid burn violence could be addressed keeping in view the best interests of the survivor, she added.
She said that despite the laws, the perpetrators still go unpunished as the victims’ family compromise several times.
