Acid attack punishment: Govt response awaited

On Friday, when the matter came up before a Bench comprising Justices G P Mathur and P K Balasubramanyam, the concern raised in the petition was evident from the court too, which remarked 8220;8230;such attacks are worse than murder as the entire life of the victim stands ruined8221;. While acceding to the Government request for more time for filing its responses, the court observed, 8220;Punishment for the offence of acid attack on a person deserves to be enhanced. It is up to the state to consider it.8221;

It also noted that the victims in such cases should be adequately compensated. The state should look into providing immediate financial assistance to them for proper treatment.The PIL was filed by one such victim herself, Laxmi, a minor at the time of incident whose entire face got disfigured after three three youths threw acid as she had refused to marry one of them.