The government has decided to amend the law to deal with the growing number of cases of acid attacks on the country’s womenfolk and provide harsher punishment of at least a 10-year jail term for the perpetrators of such acts.
A high-powered committee chaired by Union home secretary G.K. Pillai, constituted to examine issues, is all set to recommend a new clause in the IPC to deal with cases of acid attacks. The committee had been formed to suggest changes in the country’s rape laws taking into account current realities of the Indian society. Though the new law will be gender neutral, it’s noteworthy that in almost all acid attack cases, girls have been found to be the victims.
At present, there is no dedicated section in the IPC to deal with acid attack offences and all such cases are covered under Section 326 which deals with ‘’voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means’’. However, the Pillai committee has suggested the insertion of two clauses, 326A and 326B, in the IPC which will specifically deal with acid attacks on girls. The panel will be suggesting a minimum punishment of 10 years in jail and a fine of up to `10 lakhs. Most importantly, the panel wants the fine amount to be given to the victim of such an acid attack.
The panel is also suggesting that in case nobody gets hurt in an acid attack, even then the guilty should be punished with a prison term of five years. The offender can be fined up to `5 lakhs also.
The proposed Section 326A (i) has sought to define acid attack offences as ‘’whosoever burns or maims or disfigures or disables any part or parts of the body of a person or causes grievous hurt by throwing acid on or administering acid to that person, with the intention of causing or with the knowledge that he is likely to cause such injury or hurt”, Section 326, on the other hand, deals with any attempt to throw or use acid in any form on any other person.
The expert panel has already recommended changes in the IPC and other laws to make the country’s rape laws stricter. It has suggested a minimum punishment for persons having intercourse with a girl less than 18 years of age even if she is his wife. This would invite a seven-year jail term.
The committee consists of Union home secretary G.K. Pillai and secretaries in the Union ministries of legal affairs, legislative department, women and child development, member-secretary, law commission of India, member-secretary, National Commission for Women.