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Uttarakhand HC directs state govt to provide ₹ 35 lakh to acid attack survivor
The Uttarakhand high court in June 2017 had directed the state government to provide free medical aid to the survivors of acid attacks till their full recovery
The Uttarakhand high court on Friday directed the state government to provide a compensation of ₹35 lakh to an acid attack survivor from US Nagar district, who was attacked in 2014 by a stalker.
The single bench of Sanjay Kumar Mishra issued the order while hearing the petition of the acid attack survivor Gulnaz Khan, who had filed the petition in 2019
Snigdha Tiwari, counsel of the petitioner said acid attack survivor Gulnaz Khan was a student of Class 12 in 2014. “During that time, an unknown person, who wanted to have a relationship with her and whom she was continuously rejecting, attacked her with acid. She got more than 60% burns and her right ear was completely damaged”.
Tiwari said she also lost 50 per cent of hearing in the other ear and had severe burn injuries (third-degree burns) on her face, chest and hands. Gulnaz Khan in her petition said that the State failed to uphold her safety and her right to live with dignity.
“I argued in the court that how proper compensation is not being given in the case of a survivor whereas the government spends crores on political matters”, she said.
Tiwari said after listening to all the parties, the single bench of justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra passed the order in this case on Friday that the acid attack survivor be given a compensation of ₹ 35,00,000. “The money will be given by the state government, even if the treatment is or has been carried out in any other institution outside the state of Uttarakhand, be it Delhi or Chandigarh. This brings a glimmer of hope for such women who have been victims of such heinous crimes,” she said.
In June 2017, the high court had directed the state government that “all the private hospitals across the state of Uttarakhand are directed to provide medical assistance to the acid attack victims… The state government is further directed to provide free medical aid to the victims of acid attacks till their full recovery”. The court had also directed the state government to include the survivors of acid attacks in the category of physically challenged persons for the purpose of reservation in public employment and also to make a separate scheme for their rehabilitation.
In 2017, Parveen, a 35-year-old woman from Udham Singh Nagar district was attacked by her husband with acid after a fight. In September 2018, seven persons from a family in Almora were attacked by acid. One of the survivors of this attack had succumbed to her injuries in November 2018.
