The Concept of Victimology through the Lens of Acid Attack Victims: A Judicial Paradigm

Over the last few years, cases of acid attack have been reported from various parts of India including Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar, Assam and Delhi. The tragedy and complexity of the problem of acid attack demands a high socio-economic, political and legal concern. Besides other palliative measures, this calls for an attitudinal change as well. The mental agony and societal taboo undergone by the victim of acid attack is unimaginable. It is known that the compensation provided to the acid attack victims is not enough to provide them with sufficient means and various cases have been instituted on the fact that there is a lack of medical care and rehabilitation facilities available to them which have increased the plight of the victims. Thus, the principles have been elucidated on paper but not practically applied in such cases. This paper focuses on the principles of victimology in lieu of its application in cases of acid attacks. It tries to abridge the gap between judicial approach and their stance towards applications of principles of victimology in providing justice and rehabilitation to the victims of acid attack.