Keywords: Acid attack, Victim, Life Imprisonment, Compensation, Law student
Two persons got convicted for committing an acid attack on a law student in 2014, the reason for which was provoked on account of ‘love affair’ failure. The Principal Sessions Judge, Jawad Ahmed at Srinagar sanctioned them the punishment of life imprisonment for the heinous nature of the crime. The offenders Irshad Amin Wani and Mohammed Umer Noor were declared guilty by the court of law under the RPC (Ranbir Penal Code) Section 326A for causing grievous hurt voluntarily by using acid read with Section 120B for Criminal Conspiracy and Section 201 for providing false evidence, and has been awarded with imprisonment for life along with Rs. 5 lakhs fine and 10 years imprisonment along with Rs. 10,000 fine each for the offences punishable under the mentioned provisions and the punishment has been decided to run concurrently. They may be made to undergo rigorous imprisonment on failure of payment of the imposed fine.
The incident took place on 11th of December, 2014 when they attacked an eighth-semester female law student in front of the Kashmir Law College, Srinagar. The victim had to undergo 28 surgeries for the same and owing to the struggles she faced, the court has recommended this case to the Member Secretary of Jammu & Kashmir Legal Service Authority in order to compensate the victim under the Victim Compensation Scheme of 2019.
The counsel for the said offenders requested for leniency in the punishment stating their young age and that they are given a chance for reformation but the Court rejected the same and said that this request if accepted would cause detriment to the victim whose entire life is ruined because of the incident which is irreversible, and that even when none of these being her fault, has lost a chance to lead a normal life like any others which is a result of the wrongdoings of the offenders. Thus, any mercy on the convicts was rejected to be shown by the Court of law in this matter. The execution of the sentence awarded is to be confirmed by the High Court of J&K and Ladakh.
Written by – Vaishnavi N, College name – Alliance School of Law, Alliance University, Bengaluru, 3rd semester, An intern under Legal Vidhiya
