Preeti Rathi case: Acid attacks more brutal than rape, says judge

In a judgment that, for the first time, convicted 25-year-old acid attacker Ankur Panwar to death, the special women’s court judge AS Shende has gone on to minutely examine each of the evidence put forth to call it among the “rarest of rare cases”. In May 2013, Panwar had hurled acid on Rathi, who suffered grievous injuries, and later died due to multiple organ failure. ”The incident is extremely gruesome, revolting and horrifying,” noted the judgment and stressed on the need to send “A strong message… to the miscreants of such crime against women… that such crimes shall not be tolerated.” The court went on to note, “If the rising trend towards such a crime is not checked at its inception, it will have monstrous effect on the society and soon it will spread.’ The judgment goes on to note the ‘anti-social nature of the crime” and noted that the accused had not simply thrown acid but “it also shows a heartless act committed in a systematically pre-planned manner.” This had forced the legislature to amend the law to introduce stringent punishment for causing grievous hurt or disfigurement by intentionally throwing acid. Judge Shende, while awarding capital punishment, was of the opinion that “the height of brutality in acid attacks was more than those in cases of rape.” Explaining the act of acid attack the judge opined, “Rape destroys the soul of the victim.