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2022 Srinagar acid attack: Court awards life term to stalker, fines him ₹40 lakh
The woman was attacked by two people, including a juvenile, who wanted to ‘teach her a lesson and take revenge’ on her turning down the marriage proposal
A court in Srinagar on Wednesday sentenced a man to life imprisonment in the February 2022 acid attack case and also imposed a fine of ₹40 lakh on him, describing the offence as “brutal and inhuman”.
On February 1, 2022, Sajid Altaf Rather, a Srinagar resident, accompanied by a juvenile, threw acid on the then 24-year-old woman at Hawal in the Old City area of Srinagar after she rejected his marriage proposal.
The woman received critical burn injuries on her face and even lost vision in one eye.
Principal sessions judge, Srinagar, Jawad Ahmed convicted Rather under Sections 326 A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid) and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and awarded him life imprisonment.
“The impact of the corrosive substance was such that the bone on the right side of her head was exposed. The nose, eyes and whole face was badly damaged. Despite 23 surgeries to date, the scars still remain,” reads the judgment.
“Justice has prevailed. The court has also imposed a fine of ₹40 lakh under Section 421 (1)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which can be recovered from his property,” said Naveed Gul, lawyer representing the affected woman, adding “I hope this judgment would act as a deterrent.”
The woman’s parents were also present at the court and expressed satisfaction over the judgment. “It is justice for all girls. This should not happen with any other girl. We exhausted whatever we had, and I am thankful to all the people, including lawyers, for supporting us,” said the mother of the acid attack survivor.
Police arrested Rather, his juvenile aide and Mohammad Saleem Kumar, the man who sold the abrasive chemical to the main accused, a day after the attack.
Gul said Kumar was also convicted under Section 336 for negligence and has been sentenced to a three-month jail. “A separate trial is on against the juvenile in the juvenile justice board,” he said.
Gul had pleaded before the court that the victim had undergone 23 surgeries on which her family has spent ₹48 lakh.
The police, which had formed a special investigation team headed by an SP-rank officer, filed a 1,000-page chargesheet in less than a month of the crime.
According to the investigation, the accused, who used to work in a medical shop as a salesperson, took note of the timings of the woman. On the fateful day, he took a break from work and went on a two-wheeler along with his accomplice towards the place where the woman used to work. On her way back home in the evening, Rather followed her, threw acid on her and went back to his shop, the police probe said.
