Visakhapatnam: Only one conviction in the acid attacks cases took place in Andhra Pradesh since the past few years. Most of the victims are still waiting for justice.
In February 2017, the Supreme Court awarded a compensation of Rs 3.5 lakh to an acid attack victim Revada Sasikala of Vizianagaram district and slapped a sentence of one-year imprisonment on the accused Gorripottu Eswara Rao.
Earlier, the Hyderabad High Court had let off the accused with a one-month imprisonment and Rs 6,000 fine for the offence committed in May 2003. Gorripotu Eswara Rao, 29, a landlord and resident of Sompuram from L Kota mandal in Vizianagaram district, fell in love with Revada Sasikala, 26, who was his neighbour.
However, when the girl spurned his romantic advances and marriage proposal, the accused got into a rage, broke into the victim’s house and hurled acid on her on May 24, 2003. The girl suffered 70 per cent burn injuries in the eye, chest and other places and she had to undergo several plastic surgeries.
Acid attacks have been on the rise of late in AP and acid attack cases in Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema are still in the trial stages. Acid attack victims have been waiting for justice and seek the punishment of the guilty. The pending acid attack cases in the courts still have a long way to go.
The Supreme Court has directed speedy trials of the cases. “Punishment has been increased to up to 10 years,” said senior advocate and president of the forum of legal professionals K. Muralidhar.
“Acid attacks cause disfigurement of the person and a special court must be set up for the trial of such cases on a daily basis and a fitting punishment must be given. The sale of acid goes on without checks by a government authority. It is freely available and is being used as a weapon to wreak vengeance,” he added.
AP has the highest number of acid attacks in South India with 14 attacks in 2015. Five cases of acid attacks in Vizag city are pending in courts since the past few years. One woman died and four others suffered injuries in acid attacks in Vizag in the recent years.
In a five-year trial, seven years of rigorous imprisonment was sentenced to T. Naveen in 2010 for attacking a girl with acid in 2005, in Vizag. Acid attack victims say they had to live with physical disfigurement and psychological scars while the accused are yet to be convicted.
