‘Don’t want sympathy, only justice’: Acid attack survivor as court acquits three in 2009 case
“This is a mockery of the justice system. My statements were completely ignored. I was so hopeful…I waited for 16 years,” she said. She spent all these years running from courtrooms to hospital wards.
“The judge said there were lapses in the investigation and that the case should be reinvestigated. What investigation after 16 years? I will go to the High Court. I will fight till the end…,” she told The Indian Express. It took an acid attack survivor 16 years to rebuild her life bit by bit. She did not lose hope and on Wednesday she reached a Delhi court hoping to get justice. She was completely sure that those responsible for orchestrating the attack on her in Panipat in 2009 would be convicted.
To her disbelief, the court acquitted three in the case, though a detailed judgment has not come out yet.
“Tears started rolling down my eyes. I told the judge I don’t want your sympathy, I want justice,” she told The Indian Express.
“This is a mockery of the justice system. My statements were completely ignored. I was so hopeful…I waited for 16 years,” she said. She spent all these years running from courtrooms to hospital wards.
She also helped several other survivors rebuild their lives. Her foundation has provided 300 survivors legal and medical aid and educational opportunities. Her foundation’s shelter home houses close to 80 survivors on an average in a year.
“I have gotten 18 surgeries done…the judge today acquitted the accused. He said that I could’ve done this and that…I could’ve left my job. Why are the police there then? How did the scars appear on my face? There are medical documents. Everything is on record,” she said.
The persons acquitted on Wednesday had been accused of conspiring, along with a juvenile, to carry out an acid attack on the then 23-year-old woman.
In 2009, she moved to Panipat after getting a job as a student counsellor at a university. She also got enrolled in an MBA course. According to the prosecution, she was harassed at her workplace by the owner of the university and was subjected to threats.
She finally put in her papers on November 1, 2009, and was set to leave a month later after serving the notice period. The attack took place 11 days prior to her last working day at the university. She had left her office for her rented house, when a youngster, with his face covered with a handkerchief, walked up to her and poured acid on her. When she was taken to a local hospital, she was unable to open her eyes.
According to the prosecution, the owner of the university, his wife and two students planned and carried out the attack.
While the juvenile was convicted on December 18, 2015, the others were charged in January under IPC sections 376(2) (aggravated rape), 326 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 342 (wrongful confinement), and 511 (punishment for attempting an offence).
“Other survivors draw hope from me. Now I have only lost hope,” she said. “I didn’t even have money to travel or to buy medicines. I still came to court. What do I say to the survivors? Do I tell them to take the money for settlement…then they can at least buy medicines for themselves,” she added.
The woman couldn’t see for two-and-a-half years. Doctors managed to save one of her eyes. Till four years after the attack, she allegedly reached out to the police, but to no avail. It was only in 2014 that the Supreme Court agreed to transfer the trial from Haryana to Delhi’s Rohini Court.
“…am I wasting my time…? Judges should be sensitised, otherwise going to the judiciary is futile,” she said.
“Victims have to deal with everything. Even 10 years of punishment wouldn’t have been enough. Despite all these, I just wanted justice,” she added.
In December 2016, the Delhi HC had discharged all the accused, citing delays. Over a year later, the SC restored the trial after the victim appealed. In 2019, cross examination in the trial began.
“The judge said there were lapses in the investigation and that the case should be reinvestigated. What investigation after 16 years? I will go to the High Court. I will fight till the end…,” she told The Indian Express.
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