COLUMN BY SIDRA SAQIB 7-3-23
Throwing acid is considered worse than murder. However, unfortunately throwing
acid is getting much common in Pakistan. Recently, a woman in Lahore was
attacked with acid because she refused a proposal of marriage. According to an
independent estimate, between 2005 and 2022 some 9,340 people fell victim to
acid attacks in Pakistan. Such attacks in the country will continue unless the
state takes stringent measures to finish the evil-doer.
The atrocious act of attacking human beings with acid is, tragically, a common
threat that women face in Pakistan. According to the Acid Survivors Trust
International, 80% of acid attack victims are women, making it part of
gender-based violence. Although men are also targeted by attackers, the issue
affects women disproportionately and is more likely to occur in societies with
pronounced gender inequality. This practice perpetuates gender inequality and
reflects the poor position of women in the Pakistani society, who are at serious
risk of attacks at any moment, not only from strangers but often also from their
own husbands and family members.
Acid attacks were outlawed in 2011 in the Pakistani criminal justice system and
the punishment for such an attack was set to life imprisonment. The sale of acid
and other corrosive substances was also made illegal, in the same attempt to
eliminate this form of violence. Even though these measures were implemented by
the government of Pakistan, they are not effectively enforced. The attacks
continue and the ease with which the chemical is available in most parts of the
country is surprising. An investigation carried out by Pakistani private news
channel SAMAA TV revealed that bottles of acid were freely available at a local
chemical shop for a mere 150 Rupees, even though the minimum fine for an acid
attack is set to 1 million Rupees.
Frequent reasons that perpetrators cite for attacking a woman with acid include
suspicions of cheating in a marriage, disputes over land ownership or general
family disputes. Fathers will attack their daughters with acid for “looking at
boys”, and potential suitors will attack women for denying their marriage
proposals. They are often an expression of the worst form of domestic violence,
stemming from the patriarchal culture of the Pakistani society, in which women
are seen as commodities and are continuously objectified. Not only that, but
survivors of attacks live in fear of reporting to the police, since the rule of
law in the country is weak and perpetrators often go unpunished. This may also
be due to the fear of reprisal by the perpetrators.
Even if the estimated attacks that go unreported are still more than the ones
that make it to a police station, the official numbers of reported acid attacks
dropped after 2014. In 2017 Pakistan became the only country in the world in
which violence against women decreased in any capacity, due to the decrease in
the number of acid attacks reported after the year 2014. Between 2014 and 2016 a
52% reduction in the number of acid attacks was reported, which led many to
believe that positive change in the advancement of minority rights was being
recorded in Pakistan. However, the previously discussed issue of under-reporting
of cases due to social stigma and gender inequality means that the decline in
officially reported cases should be taken with a grain of salt, since they do
not reflect the accurate numbers. To attest to this, the head of the burn unit
at the largest hospital in Multan, Dr Naheed Ahmad, states that there has in
fact not been a decrease in the attack victims coming into the hospital.
Some encouraging legal developments include the Acid and Burn Crime Bill passed
in 2018. This bill mandates that free healthcare and rehabilitation services be
given to victims of acid burns in order to help them cope with the physical and
psychological disabilities that acid attacks entail. Even though the bill sets
life imprisonment as the maximum penalty for a murder through acid attack, an
amendment to the bill mentions that if someone intentionally causes harm but
does not kill the victim the maximum imprisonment they can serve must not exceed
7 years. The bill was moved in parliament by an avid women’s rights proponent,
Marvi Memon, who mentioned that its aim was to specifically criminalise acid
attacks and expediate the legal proceedings to benefit the victims. Furthermore,
in 2020 the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that “mercy petitions” filed by
victims in which they legally state that they forgive the perpetrator of an acid
attack will not be given any consideration in legal proceedings due to the
gravity of the crime of an acid attack. This step taken by the Court is
incredibly important in combatting the culture surrounding reporting crimes as a
woman in Pakistan, which is usually marred with fear, shame and disappointment
in the justice system.
However, conviction rates for acid attacks have dropped from 2018 to 2020, the
last year in which the ASF Pakistan has collected data for acid attacks. This is
not encouraging, since it means that less people actually get convicted of the
crime after a trial. Furthermore, the advent of COVID-19 has pushed the topic of
combatting acid attack violence back on the agenda of Pakistani officials, since
combatting the virus has taken front-stage.
The rights of women, as a minority group, are frequently overlooked in an
attempt to shield the ones responsible for the violation of their rights,
something which must change! Women are frequently being denied their human
rights in many different practices that are still occurring in the Pakistani
society, like honour killings and forced marriages. Perpetrators are still
rarely captured and women in poor families are especially vulnerable. More than
90% of the reported cases are not settled because of the perpetrators’ wealth.
Rich individuals are more easily able to evade the legal system and the police
charges. The police is reluctant to challenge their social status, which means
that women suffering from the aftermath of an attack, especially the poor women
who are most vulnerable, are not getting the justice they deserve!
Like most social change, reforms against acid attacks in Pakistan are still
moving too slow for Pakistani women of today, who are still at a high risk of
acid attacks. Women in Pakistan are a minority group, marginalised and
discriminated against in the law and in society. ASF Pakistan speaks about how
throwing acid in a woman’s face is a normalised act of anger and in the
patriarchal Pakistani society. Women must not be objects to claim and to
oppress, and revenge should not be sought from a “disobedient” woman by
attacking her face and body with acid. The Pakistani government must start
enforcing its laws against acid attacks in order to bring true change and
respect for women’s rights in the country.
One of the most horrifying forms of gender-based violence in Pakistan is
throwing acid (usually sulphuric acid ) on women with an aim to take revenge,
disfigure and harm the person. It has long-lasting physical and psychological
consequences.
Pakistan is on the list of countries with an incidence of acid attacks on women.
The opponents are most often relatives or rivals, sometimes for a woman’s
affections or in non- gender-based attacks, opponents provoked by property
disputes or other disagreements.
Nearly, 150 incidents of acid attacks are reported every year in Pakistan out of
which about 50 occurred in Balochistan. Acid throwing is also a phenomenon in
South Punjab as well as in parts of Sindh, being randomly spread throughout the
country.
Acid throwing usually occurs when a male perceives that a female related/
unrelated to him is usually involved in some act which is appeared to be outside
the limits of marriage or social norms. It is requested to Acid Survivors
Foundation (ASF) take serious notice of this issue and tries to eliminate it.
Looking forward to your efforts in the above-mentioned matter
man threw acid on a woman in Lahore on Monday (6-3-23) allegedly after she
refused to marry him, police said.
The suspect is currently on the run and police are making efforts to apprehend
him.
According to the first information report (FIR) of the incident, registered on
the victim's complaint, the woman was attacked by the suspect in Johar Town. The
FIR was registered against a man who had allegedly previously threatened her
under Section 336-B (harm by use of corrosive substance) of the Pakistan Penal
Code. The woman, who is a domestic worker, said she was walking to a house where
she worked around 8am when she saw the suspect and an unidentified man waiting
on a motorcycle near Jagawar Chowk. The suspect offered to drop the woman off at
her employer's residence and when she refused to accompany him, the man threw
acid kept in a steel jug on her face. As a result, the woman's face, neck and
hands were severely burned, the FIR said.
Following the attack, the woman ran back to her house and her brother took her
to Jinnah Hospital.
In her statement, the woman said the suspect had wanted to "forcefully marry"
her and when she refused, he threatened to "not leave [her] capable of
anything". In this connection, she said the man had thrown acid on her with the
intention to kill her.
There were 9,340 victims of acid attacks in Pakistan between 2005 and 2022,
according to a Dawn article.
Striking with an easily acquired weapon such as acid causes irreversible damage
with an effortless throw, as opposed to other readily available weapons like
knives, which require forceful attacks with precision. To conclude, i plea to
the government to take strong steps to finish acid attacks as soon as possible
because a women under attack of acid died every day not once