Acid attacks may be treated as heinous crime

Seeking a crackdown on acid attacks, the government on Wednesday said a web application would be developed to regulate the sale of acid with functionalities like registration of stockists and retailers, issue of licences by the district administration, and limiting sale of acid to individuals who furnish proof of identity and residence.

"This...will considerably reduce the unauthorized sale of acid in the country ," the home ministry said while announcing a slew of measures approved by Union home minister Rajnath Singh to strengthen the legal and administrative framework against acid attacks.

The measures include treating acid attacks that cause grievous hurt as "heinous" crimes on par with murder and rape. "All such cases where maximum punishment of life imprisonment or death sentence is possible will be categorized as `heinous crimes'," a home ministry release adding that suitable amendments would be made in Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to provide for time-bound investigation and trial of cases involving heinous crimes. .

Stating that the government, despite having taken several steps in the past to regulate sale of acid, increase punishment for perpetrators and compensate the victims, needed to do more "as victims of acid attacks suffer a lot", the home ministry on Wednesday said suita ble amendments would be made in the law to fix a timeframe for disposal of appeals by courts, especially in cases of heinous crimes including acid attacks.

Besides preventive measures, the government proposes to ensure quick relief and rehabilitation of acid attack victims. The focus would be on treatment of victims in a hassle-free manner. "The ministry of home affairs will develop a new mechanism in consultation with the ministry of health and family welfare, ministry of finance and insurance companies so that the victims of acid attacks are treated on cashless basis and the treatment is paid for from the Central Victim Compensation Fund proposed to be set up by MHA.

Besides, steps will be taken to include acid attack victims in the category of "physically challenged" persons with disability so that they can avail the benefits of reservation, training, self-employment loan etc, thus helping in their rehabilitation.