A woman constable was attacked with acid on the early hours of April 4 by five car-borne assailants in Mathura’s Sadar area. According to police, the victim has suffered 40% burn injuries and is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Agra. The victim identified as Neelam Mishra was on her way to duty at Krishna Janam Bhoomi temple in Mathura, when the perpetrators attacked her.
The police has so far nabbed one of the assailants, Sonu, who told police that his friend Sanjay was known to the woman constable for past 10 years, Times of India reported. After joining police force, she distanced herself from him. Angry at her and her family, who had fixed her wedding, Sanjay threw acid at her.
Of the the five accused, it was Sanjay who threw acid at her, and then fled the spot in a Zen car.
The police have registered cases under Section 326A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by the use of acid), 326 A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by the use of acid), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code against the suspects.
NCRB’s annual crime report, 2016, (the last one released) recorded 283 incidents and 307 survivors under Section 326A (acid attack) and Section 326B (attempt to carry out an acid attack) of the IPC. 26% (76) of the incidents and 27% (60) of the victims were from West Bengal.
During the same period, Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state with over double the population of Bengal, had 57 incidents and 61 survivors.
In 2015, The Supreme Court had passed several far-reaching directions in the Laxmi acid attack case, some of which include making the private health industry responsible for providing mandatory and free care to acid attack victims. The term ‘treatment’ included reconstructive surgery, free medicines, bed, rehabilitation and aftercare. The court had directed State governments to take action in cases of private hospitals turning away victims. The apex court also mandated all States to fix ₹3 lakh as minimum compensation for victims.
